"Failure is Not Fatal"

[This entry is Part Three of a three-part series entitled “Put to the Test”]

"To give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit..." Isaiah 61:3

What would you say has been your biggest failure in life? We all have them. For most of us, we’d have to pick from among several. However, my guess is that, for most of us, a particular incident, situation or relationship will take the cake so to speak. Perhaps it was a great job that you lost due to carelessness or poor decisions. Or maybe it was the time you refused to take the risk that would have put you and your company over the top. Maybe it was the time you bobbled the routine ground ball or Hail Mary pass that would have ensured victory and a championship for your team. Perhaps it was your failed marriage. Or maybe it was all three of them. Maybe you were young and dumb and you gave yourself away to the wrong person. Or maybe it was six of them.

Whatever your failures, chances are you’ve rehearsed over and over what you would do differently if only you had it to do over again. The clarity of 20/20 hindsight has revealed to you everything you need to know to get it right this time.

When I think about my biggest failure, I think of an incident that involved being betrayed by people that I considered to be friends. Of course, their betrayal of me wasn’t my failure. My reaction to their betrayal was. So many times, I have wished I could go back and NOT do the things that I did. So many times, I have wished that I would have simply turned the other cheek. But I didn’t. And I regret it to this day. What’s done is done; but what I wouldn’t give to go back and have another chance! Perhaps you feel the same way.

The good news, if you’ll allow for any, is that failure is not final, nor is it fatal – at least it doesn’t have to be. At this point, you may be saying, “You don’t understand. I didn’t just fail my family or my friends. I failed God. I betrayed God. I’ve given up on God.” If that’s you, all hope is not lost.

The story of Christianity – the story of Jesus Christ – is the story of God taking something that is broken and failing and turning it into something that is restored and thriving. God is in the business of rescuing those who have been crushed by this life and breathing new life into their fractured souls. In the words of Jesus himself, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” [Matthew 9:12]

Jesus came to restore a world full of people who had betrayed God and chosen to go a different way. These were people who had been told of God’s faithfulness to their parents and grandparents – delivering them from slavery, miraculously providing food from heaven and water from rocks, bringing them to a land flowing with milk and honey – yet they chose to go their own way. Jesus came to restore people like this.

But Jesus doesn’t stop at restoring only those who failed God before they knew him. You see, even Jesus’ closest followers had their colossal collapses. After all, it’s not as if knowing Jesus somehow makes you immune to your own human nature. One particular follower of Jesus – one who knew Jesus personally (we’re talking a guy who walked, talked and ate with him), one of those followers – let Jesus down big time. Even after Jesus warned this man that he would deny being one of his followers, he proceeded to deny Jesus not once, but three times. But failing Jesus wasn’t the end of this man’s story. It turned out to be just the beginning. After his crucifixion, Jesus made a point to personally restore him. This man’s name was Peter – one of Jesus’ twelve disciples and a man who went on to become one of the leading figures in the early church.

There are a couple of notable things about Jesus’ restoration of Peter. Jesus gives Peter one opportunity to profess his love for Jesus for each of the three times Peter denied him. Three denials, three opportunities to be restored. What’s more, Jesus caps Peter’s restoration with these words: “Follow me.” [John 21:19] Why is this significant, you ask? These are the words that Jesus used to call his disciples in the beginning. [cf John 1:43] Jesus is saying, “What’s done is done. It’s time to start anew. Are you ready to get back on track?"

Whatever the magnitude of your failures, whether in life in general or your relationship with God, failure is not final. Nor is it fatal to your relationship with God. God wants to take your shortcomings, mistakes and outright failures and exchange them for something that reflects his goodness and beauty.

We can’t go back and undo our failures. But God can take our 20/20 hindsight and turn it into 20/20 foresight. Do you think Peter's experience gave him a deeper appreciation of Jesus’ desire to restore people? [cf 1 Peter 5:10] How did Peter’s history affect his view of others who had similar failings and shortcomings? My guess is that he approached these people with abundant grace and an overwhelming degree of mercy, knowing that Jesus had extended the same to him. Peter would never be the same for it and those to whom he ministered would always be the better for it.

God wants to take your failed marriage and turn it into a heart for those in troubled unions. He wants to forgive having given yourself away, so that you can wholeheartedly give yourself to Him. Jesus wants to take the heartache from your abortion 15 years ago and turn it into a passion to save the unborn and minister to frightened adolescent girls. The Holy Spirit wants to break the bonds of your psychological fear and turmoil and give you a new spirit -- so that you might proclaim freedom to those who are similarly bound. The enemy of our souls succeeds when our failures continue to haunt us, but forgiveness and restoration can be ours in Christ - when we are willing to believe it and receive it.

What does God want to do with your biggest failures? Whose life could God's love transform because of what you’ve been through? This very moment, Jesus is saying, “So. Are you ready to get back on track? Then follow me.”