“But in spite of this, the people kept sinning. Despite His wonders, they refused to trust Him. So He ended their lives in failure, their years in terror.” (Psalm 78:32-33 NLT)
This despicable chapter in the children of Israel’s lives serves as a reminder to us of the tremendous gift of grace the Lord Jesus has made available to us through His sacrifice on the Cross. Because of His great mercy our failures don’t have to be final; quite to the contrary, they can be steppingstones into the greatest chapters of our lives.
Dave Harvey’s words give great encouragement when he writes: “Our failures are never big enough to interrupt God’s plans for us.” Here’s the truth: We’ve all failed! How do I know that? Because I believe the Bible is true and the words of Paul declare in Romans 3:23: “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” What is God’s glorious standard? JESUS!
That’s why as believers in the Lord Jesus; our goal and aim is to live like Him; to approximate His likeness with all that is within us. Do we all have regrets and remembrances of failures that have all but crippled us? I sure do, but by God’s grace we have been given victory over those defeats through Christ our King. Our goal is to not keep adding to those regrets by continuing to disobey the clear commands and directives of the Lord, but to walk in obedience and full surrender to His holy will.
Here’s a word from the Lord: “If It’s clearly spelled out in Scripture not to do something, don’t do it!” It’s common sense, but many in our world today have thrown common sense out the window with other common courtesies, but why? Have we as God’s children grown so accustomed to following the ways of the world, we’ve forgotten the Lord’s plans for us in our treatment of others is better? What happened to “do to others as you’d have them do to you?”
My sense is we fail, not because we set out to disobey the Lord, but because we get so distracted by the activities of our day, we don’t know if we’re coming or going. Before we complete one thing, two more are calling for our attention. Which highlights once again the need for early morning prayer, before things get hectic and out of our control.
When are we most prone to failure? When we’re tired, stressed, out of sorts, frustrated by the pressures of our day, and in a hurry. When are we in the best frame of heart and mind to accomplish everything the Lord puts on our plate? When we’re prayed up, our hearts are filled with peace, confidence, and conviction that the Lord is with us, for us, and will guide us every step of the way!
Failure is never final for anyone who has put their trust in Jesus for their eternal forgiveness and life. By God’s grace may we determine to walk in light of our forgiveness knowing the power of the Spirt will empower and enable us to obey the Lord’s directives and treat others as we desire to be treated. Does that mean we’ll never fail? Probably not, but I’m certain we’ll fail less when our determination is to obey the Lord and submit to His Lordship in everything we do, say, and think. Obedience renders blessing and blessing is a great motivator to follow our Savior closely.
Perhaps you believe you’ve failed too much, or your failure was too severe to ever be forgiven. If that’s the case I’d like to introduce you to the only One who can forgive anything with a grace that doesn’t condemn but restores. Please tap ANewStory.com and find forgiveness and hope you may never have dreamed possible. Because of Jesus your failure is not final!
Blessings, Ed 😊
