Devotions for the Less Than Perfect

By Carroll Dannettell

As a life long Christian that has had several mistakes and shortcomings, Carroll felt God leading her to put together a devotional book to reach those that don’t fit in the “positive, encouraging” definition. Many hurts and pains, both self-inflicted and inflicted by others, can hurt our perception of God. Using Bible verses as examples, Carroll put together a series of devotions for those that are “Less Than Perfect”.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664219885

Carroll Dannettell

Carroll has been married to her husband Brad since 2016.  Her family includes two daughters from a previous marriage, Bonnie and Heather, their husbands, Patrick and Kevin, and a beautiful granddaughter, Reagan.  With her marriage to Brad she inherited a stepdaughter, Sarah, and a stepson, Dillon.  She and Brad currently make their home in Berthoud, Colorado.

Book preview

DEVOTIONS

FOR THE LESS THAN

PERFECT

CARROLL DANNETTELL

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Copyright © 2021 Carroll Dannettell.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher

make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book

and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version® Copyright © 1982

by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-1989-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-1990-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-1988-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021901516

WestBow Press rev. date: 05/20/2021

Contents

Decisions, Decisions…

Dirty Waterpots

The Wedding Garment

Dem Bones

ONLY Five Husbands?

Are you Married or Just Dating? …

The Most Beautiful Moment in Human History

Jesus Never Asks Without Giving in Return

The Law of the Harvest

Who Falls on the Rock …

Say What?

If You Are Willing …

Who Touched Me?

Who’s in Control? …

The Unmentioned Miracle

The Secret to Peace

What’s Your Measure?

Pruning the Roses

The Refiner’s Fire

You Want Me to Do WHAT?

Look What She Started …

When the Brook Dries Up, It’s Time to Move

When Praise Demands a Sacrifice

Spiritual Warfare on Steroids

Even the Devils Are Subject!

Whose Report Will You Believe?

The Battle of Wills

Spiritual Warfare Is Real

Woman, Where Are Your Accusers?

Do You Want to Be Made Well?

Get Fit With God

Who’s Your Daddy?

Two to One Odds

God Allows U-Turns

Be Yourself

Freedom Inside Boundaries

Jephthah’s Daughter

Obey Is Not a Four Letter Word

If at First You Don’t Succeed, You’re Normal

We’re Not Built for Guilt

Are You Recharged?

De-Pression

What Are You in Prison For?

Decisions, Decisions…

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,

A broken and a contrite heart—

These, O God, You will not despise."

PSALM 51:17

If you’re reading this book, I’m guessing you have had your share of struggles not only in life, but in your relationship with God. I didn’t write this for the believer that grew up in the church, had perfect parents and siblings, married the right person, had perfect children, and come from one of those families that never seemed to struggle. PS – I have news for you, those people don’t exist – no matter how perfect someone looks, they still have challenges and struggles, just like you. Their problems may not be as obvious, but we live in a fallen world, so it is guaranteed they’ve hurt people, and have been hurt. But they aren’t the ones I am writing these devotions for. I am writing these for the people who have struggled, who have walked away from their faith, maybe several times. I am writing this for those that have known extreme pain, or may be going through pain. I want to remind you, there is not one step in your life that has been a surprise to God, because He knows your heart. There is not one decision you’ve made where He didn’t already know the outcome, and if you still love Him in your heart, He won’t let you fail. Let me tell my story first, and then we’ll discuss decisions and outcomes.

King David had quite the story. He lusted after a woman whom he had no business even seeing. He should have been at war with his men, rather than on the rooftop watching Bathsheba bathing. Then he arranged for the murder of her husband after she found herself pregnant. Almost reads like a modern-day drama, doesn’t it? Why are stories like these in the Bible? I believe it is because God wants us to see that people, no matter who they were, were normal people like us. God even calls David a man after His own heart. In contrast, another of God’s chosen people was King Saul, what did he do that was so bad? Did he have an adulterous affair? Not that was ever reported in the Bible. Did he murder someone to cover up for his indiscretions? Nope. But he was rejected for – get this (drumroll, please) – saving animals and sacrificing before God … Okay there is a little more to the story than that, obviously, but honestly, what did he do that was so bad? Saul had been commanded to totally destroy the Amalekites, animals and all, but he made the decision to leave their King Agag and the best of their animals alive - oops. Then, on another occasion, he and his troops were waiting for Samuel to arrive to sacrifice before God. However, Samuel was taking his time getting where Saul and his troops were. The men were getting restless so Saul, to appease them, went ahead and offered the sacrifice. Samuel showed up just as he was finished. And for these two decisions God rejected Saul. It does not seem like much, especially in comparison to David – so what was the difference? The difference was the condition of their hearts when confronted with their sin. When God sent the prophet Nathan to David to confront him for his misdeeds, David immediately repented. His first words were, Against You, and You only, Lord, have I sinned (Psalms 51:4). In fact, David went on in that psalm to say, Then will I teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You (Psalms 51:13). Not only did David repent, but he saw this as a witnessing opportunity! When God sent Samuel to confront Saul, Saul used excuses to justify his actions, and placed the blame on the people as to why he did not completely obey the word that he had been given. His heart was not one of repentance, but rather one of self-justification and blame. The difference was not the sin; it was the decisions these men made about how they were going to respond to their sin when confronted with it. I believe, that had Saul later changed his heart, and come back to God and repented, God would have restored Saul, however, Saul continued down the path of his resentment until it led to his death. God already knew how hard Saul’s heart was and that he wouldn’t be willing to turn it back to Him. Because of that, God anointed David to be king after him.

I do want to point out, however, that even if you’ve repented for your bad decisions, there still may be a price to pay. For David, even though he repented for his relationship with Bathsheba, the son that was born of that adulterous affair still died as Nathan predicted. But God also redeemed David and Bathsheba in that the next son that was born of their marriage was Solomon. Solomon was not David’s oldest son, but he was the son that was chosen to inherit David’s throne. Once again, God provides a beautiful story of His redemption, even from horrible choices made by a man.

Circling back to why I decided to write this devotion book. I have a long history of some bad decisions myself. But, for every bad one, I have repented, and God has forgiven me. Some of my decisions have caused a lot of pain for myself and others. Some are still causing pain. And while I am still paying the price for some of my decisions, out of that price, good things are also happening – like the decision to put this book together. And, because others can see some of the pain I’m still going through, they know they can reach out to me when they need someone. As I use my pain to help others, I see God healing and redeeming me. I really want you to understand, especially if you are walking through pain of bad decisions right now, God can use that pain for good, if you will let Him. Pain never means that God has rejected you, or that there is no hope for you – just the opposite. Pain means that God is making room in your heart to use you to help others.

None of us are immune from bad decisions and falling into a bad place. Even one of my former pastors, whom I still have the greatest respect for, found himself in an adulterous relationship many years ago. However, they both repented, and while there was a lot of pain for both families, this pastor had a heart for God and is still serving Him. And while he is no longer able to be a