Biggest Failure
May 11, 2015
2 Corinthians 9:8 "God is able to make all grace abound toward you, so that you, always having enough of everything, may abound to every good work."
A failure, a personal shortcoming in life, is an opportunity for growth. Either you learn from them or don't, there isn't a middle ground. No one is perfect; in fact there is grace enough to cover any and every personal failure you have in life. I'm not talking about trying to come in first place in the Boston marathon and coming in fourth. The failures I'm talking about are the decisions and choices we would be embarrassed reading about in the headlines. A failure is an opportunity to allow the Lord to redeem the situation, proving to everyone you can be forgiven and used by the Lord despite your personal shortcoming.
Samson knew this lesson well when he allowed his pride to get in the way of his dedication to the Lord. His poor choices in life, his failures, took him far off the path and plan the Lord intended for Samson. In the end, when Samson returned to a right relationship with the Lord, the Lord brought about a mighty purpose for him. Recall that Samson, whose eyes had been plucked out, was chained between the pillars of a coliseum. Samson tore the coliseum apart, killing more people in one act than in all his previous years of life. The killing of the enemy was akin to the Lord bringing judgment upon them, defeating them. The Lord allowed Samson to play a large role in the process, a role Samson could not have fulfilled had he not finally learned from his failures.
The same is true of the Apostles Peter and Paul. They both had significant failures during their lives of service to the Lord. Peter vehemently denied he was a follower of Christ for fear of death. He was ashamed to be associated with Jesus. Paul originally persecuted the early Christians, putting many Christ followers to death in the name of service to the Lord. Both Peter's actions and Paul's actions were an embarrassment to the Lord, failures to top all personal failures. Yet like Samson, they both learned from their mistakes, too. They did not allow their failures to define them. Instead, they learned from them, sought forgiveness, and became significant leaders in the church. It could be said that eventually, their biggest successes for the Lord were a polar opposite of their biggest failures. The areas of their mistakes, because they learned from them, became what they were known for. Peter is known as a rock and Paul is known for spreading the early church.
This same story of redemption can and is still true today. Your biggest areas of failure, should you learn from them, will be redeemed by the Lord and possibly become your biggest areas of success for Him. Your job is to learn from your mistakes, submit to the Lord in your failures and allow Him to redeem your life. If your failures define you then you are living in bondage to them and not in dedication to the Lord. Your failures become your master instead of the Lord. If you do not turn your poor decisions and actions over to the Lord for redemption, then your mistakes become your biggest failures, permanently.
Your biggest failure is a mistake from which you do not learn or allow the Lord to redeem.
Don't take my word for it; look it up: Judges 16:23-30, Matthew 16:18, John 18:25, Acts 7:58, Acts 26:29
2 Corinthians 9:8 "God is able to make all grace abound toward you, so that you, always having enough of everything, may abound to every good work."
A failure, a personal shortcoming in life, is an opportunity for growth. Either you learn from them or don't, there isn't a middle ground. No one is perfect; in fact there is grace enough to cover any and every personal failure you have in life. I'm not talking about trying to come in first place in the Boston marathon and coming in fourth. The failures I'm talking about are the decisions and choices we would be embarrassed reading about in the headlines. A failure is an opportunity to allow the Lord to redeem the situation, proving to everyone you can be forgiven and used by the Lord despite your personal shortcoming.
Samson knew this lesson well when he allowed his pride to get in the way of his dedication to the Lord. His poor choices in life, his failures, took him far off the path and plan the Lord intended for Samson. In the end, when Samson returned to a right relationship with the Lord, the Lord brought about a mighty purpose for him. Recall that Samson, whose eyes had been plucked out, was chained between the pillars of a coliseum. Samson tore the coliseum apart, killing more people in one act than in all his previous years of life. The killing of the enemy was akin to the Lord bringing judgment upon them, defeating them. The Lord allowed Samson to play a large role in the process, a role Samson could not have fulfilled had he not finally learned from his failures.
The same is true of the Apostles Peter and Paul. They both had significant failures during their lives of service to the Lord. Peter vehemently denied he was a follower of Christ for fear of death. He was ashamed to be associated with Jesus. Paul originally persecuted the early Christians, putting many Christ followers to death in the name of service to the Lord. Both Peter's actions and Paul's actions were an embarrassment to the Lord, failures to top all personal failures. Yet like Samson, they both learned from their mistakes, too. They did not allow their failures to define them. Instead, they learned from them, sought forgiveness, and became significant leaders in the church. It could be said that eventually, their biggest successes for the Lord were a polar opposite of their biggest failures. The areas of their mistakes, because they learned from them, became what they were known for. Peter is known as a rock and Paul is known for spreading the early church.
This same story of redemption can and is still true today. Your biggest areas of failure, should you learn from them, will be redeemed by the Lord and possibly become your biggest areas of success for Him. Your job is to learn from your mistakes, submit to the Lord in your failures and allow Him to redeem your life. If your failures define you then you are living in bondage to them and not in dedication to the Lord. Your failures become your master instead of the Lord. If you do not turn your poor decisions and actions over to the Lord for redemption, then your mistakes become your biggest failures, permanently.
Your biggest failure is a mistake from which you do not learn or allow the Lord to redeem.
Don't take my word for it; look it up: Judges 16:23-30, Matthew 16:18, John 18:25, Acts 7:58, Acts 26:29
No comments:
Post a Comment