Do you have any failures, set backs, or short comings that could become a great victory with God's intervention? I think God specializes in turning our failings into our God-directed futures. There are two characters that stand out in Jesus drama that knew failure. Both Peter and Judas failed miserably. Peter denied Jesus three times and wept bitterly, even though he promised the Lord it would never happen. Judas also was a failure. He sold out to the religious authorities for 30 pieces of silver. After Jesus was arrested, Judas went back to the Temple and returned the money, knowing that Jesus was innocent of all charges. But it was too late, Jesus would be crucified, and Judas could not forgive himself. Both Peter and Judas were failures, but each faced a different future. Why?
We all fail at some level in life. We fail in our character when we give in to temptation or fail to keep our word. We fail in our professional lives when we launch a new brand or business only too see our goals unrealized. What business man can't tell you of the number of times they have tried and failed, only to try again and find success? Or what successful athlete can't tell you the number of times they failed or fell short only to wind up on the top? Failure is a part of life. So how will we handle it?
You can't choose when failure will come calling, because much of life is out of our control. But you can choose how you will handle it. As a church planter, I can tell you that most of the time you feel like you are "failing forward", not moving forward. In two years of working to birth a new church in Columbia, most of my "grand" ideas have met with limited success or utter failure. And yet, we now gather with 50-70 people in our Sunday gatherings and many of them are enjoying church life for the first time ever (after only 1.5 years of meeting publicly). So we are moving forward, I'm just not always sure how it happened!
When Peter realized he messed up, he went back to fishing. No doubt he was sorry and ashamed, but Peter still had the chance at redemption. Judas was also sorry. But, Judas couldn't forgive himself and after returning the money, he killed himself. I wonder what would have happened if Judas would have been standing at the feet of Jesus when Jesus said, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do"? Would God not have forgave Judas? For Judas, his failure and unforgiveness stood in the way of his redemption.
Maybe it's better if we just get it out in the open, so it doesn't eat us up on the inside. We all fail, everyone of us and most of us miserably! That's why churches exist, because perfect people don't! Failure is never the final word as long as we are willing to turn to God for help and receive his redemption. God specializes in "buying us" back from our failures. How you handle your failures will determine your future.
I'm hoping that you will turn to God with your failure and trust him for a brighter future. Tom Ragsdell
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