Living in the Community of "what if?"
If you are living in this world and are not acquainted with failure, then I must question you and ask...."Are you really living at all?" Let's be honest, we all have failed. In fact, the Bible tells us in Isaiah 53:6,"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all" OR as I would paraphrase, "We have all failed to live as God intended, doing our own thing and hoping He would approve; but because of our disobedience, God has punished His own Son for our failures and He has borne the weight of our sin so that we might be declared righteous before a Holy God."
Now that's failure on a spiritual level; but what about the failure that comes into our lives and often paralyzes us so that we cannot move forward.
Like the pothole of failure when we marry the "love of our life" and after 25+ years of what we assume is wedded bliss, our partner walks out the door without so much as a goodbye or thank you for the years we've spent together...and you are overcome by the enormous feeling of failure.
Or what about that business you started in your youth. You poured all your time, energy and money into building a successful company and in so doing, neglected so much of your life and its other duties; then, in a twinkling of an eye, it all come crumbling down, as you file for bankruptcy and have to begin life again in your twilight years....WHAM...SLAM... BAM...as you ricochet from the direct hit in the pothole of failure.
Then of course there is the loss of your physical health and the failure that you feel every time you look into a mirror. Gone is that handsome, debonair young man or that gorgeously-striking, young woman. Now you find yourself staring at a image of someone that remotely resembles the person you used to be...One hundred pounds overweight, losing hair, wrinkles upon wrinkles, poor health and this terrible feeling that you failed to live up to the potential that you had as a younger adult...and no matter how you try, the failure of losing your health and your youth trap you into believing that life might as well be over.
But how does God view failure? I believe God sees failure as the human condition...since the first bite of the apple and the curse of sorrow, pain and endless toil to exist, God knew that man would strive to succeed; however, in his own strength, man is destined to fail. Don't believe me...consider Peter, and the testimony of this ardent follower of Christ. He traveled almost all the way to the cross with his Master...devoted, loyal and ready to fight to save Jesus; however, when Jesus needed Peter to be the "Rock" and stand firm, what did Peter do?
HE FAILED MISERABLY....in fact, if Jesus had not prayed to the Father on behalf of Peter, his failure might have been insurmountable. In Luke 22, verse 31 and 32 from The Living Bible we read, "Simon, Simon; Satan has asked to have you, to sift you like wheat, but I have pleaded in prayer for you that your faith should not completely fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen and build up the faith of your brothers.” Yes, Christ knew that Peter would fail...that he would deny three times that he even knew this man called Jesus, and if left to his own device, the failure foretold by the Savior would become a pothole for Peter from which he might never recover. But praise be to God that He is able to take our failures and make them turn out for our GOOD and His GLORY...and it is only God that can accomplish that in us.
We can take our failures and let them define who we are, and what we can or cannot do; but God, in His infinite wisdom, sees beyond the failures, the pain, the emotional scars and He breathes new life into our being, so that we can move up, move forward and move beyond the failures that may hold us captive. GOD ALWAYS HAS A BETTER WAY...He is just waiting for us to put aside ourselves and our disappointments and look to Him for new challenges and new opportunities to serve Him so that He receives the glory due Him.
Just look at Peter and the man he became when the risen Christ asked him, "Peter, do you love me?" His emphatic answer was, "Yes, Lord, you know that I do!" To which Jesus replied, "Feed my lambs." And after asking the same questions two more times, Peter, now grieved in his spirit said, "Lord, you know all things; You know that I love you." And in a loving manner that only Jesus could express to one that had so miserably failed Him, He told Peter to feed his sheep and to follow him, even if it led to death...which is just what the great apostle Peter did.
So, have you been struck by the pothole of failure...are you sitting on the apron of life's highway as the hustle and bustle of life races by? Have you given up and accepted your fate that your are just a miserable failure? Then, maybe it's time to ask yourself....do you love Jesus...because if you do, you know this....GOD DON'T MAKE NO JUNK...AND HE IS NOT IN THE FAILURE BUSINESS!!
It's time to trust in God, love Him as He intended, and move out in the faith that He has something for you to do that only YOU can accomplish....and since He is still working in and on you, He won't quit until you are just like Jesus!
Living to be like Jesus...Loving the Life set before me,
WPQ
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