Failure at anything, practical or spiritual, can be good
because it forces us nearer to the side of Christ. Acknowledging failure introduces us to God's
forgiveness and as our intimacy with God's forgiveness grows over the years, it
becomes clear failure holds no dread for the believer, no fear of God's
rejection. For the seasoned-follower
Christ's daily encouragement transforms failures into measuring sticks by which
we can judge our progress. After all,
without failure how can we judge success?
Practically speaking, consider marriage. Where does the depth of character come from to hold marriages together? In large measure, it comes from our mistakes and the humility they force on husbands and wives as their personal failures mercilessly expose each to the other for what they truly are: fragile and so human. Then out of their mutual exposure grows the mutual patience, love, and respect that glue two together as one.
Spiritually speaking, trust and faith flourish in our failures as well for no one can claim they were mature in either category the first time they called upon the Savior. But how do failures transform vaporous words like faith and trust into the solid gold hearts and minds of the committed? For sure, trust and faith germinate in the moment of our salvation, when we say for the first time my trust is in Christ alone. However, as wonderful as these moments are, they are naive as well. For when we uttered those words, we did not understand what they were going to demand of us, nor did we have the vision to see the journey they would be taking us on in the years ahead. This is probably good though or we might concede the race at the starting line.
So cocooned in our innocence, we naively bask in the first glow of salvation and it is not until after the new wears off that genuine trust and faith begin to drive their roots deep into our hearts. When the new does wear off, and it does, we must face up to the sinner we still are, and accept the challenges of the changes that lay ahead. To be sure, when we accept the challenge of becoming God's person, our inexperience in spiritual warfare assures we will suffer failure.
Yet, while accepting the challenge to grow does present opportunities for failure, the challenge also presents opportunities to lean on God: chances to see him work directly in our lives! In others words, if we know we can do this thing called Christianity on our own, why do we need God? Trust would have nothing to do with it. No, to be real, to be in tandem with God, faith must stretch our limits, and even frighten us at times. We must let it take us where we have never been before. The only way to prove God will catch us is by jumping before being convinced He will.
This then is the alchemy that converts failures into true faith and trust. The path we walk with God is not all smooth and paved. There are potholes in our way; places where the road, washed out completely, forces us to become expert long jumpers if we are going to walk with God any distance. There is no other way and with each leap, our trust grows stronger, our courage enhanced. The expert jumper then, risks failure to find success alongside Christ. Jumping and failing is not terminal. In other words, God's eternal forgiveness makes it better to have jumped and fallen short at times, than to have never jumped at all. Now, how far can you jump?
As always, in Christ, David M. Cornell
God Moments
Practically speaking, consider marriage. Where does the depth of character come from to hold marriages together? In large measure, it comes from our mistakes and the humility they force on husbands and wives as their personal failures mercilessly expose each to the other for what they truly are: fragile and so human. Then out of their mutual exposure grows the mutual patience, love, and respect that glue two together as one.
Spiritually speaking, trust and faith flourish in our failures as well for no one can claim they were mature in either category the first time they called upon the Savior. But how do failures transform vaporous words like faith and trust into the solid gold hearts and minds of the committed? For sure, trust and faith germinate in the moment of our salvation, when we say for the first time my trust is in Christ alone. However, as wonderful as these moments are, they are naive as well. For when we uttered those words, we did not understand what they were going to demand of us, nor did we have the vision to see the journey they would be taking us on in the years ahead. This is probably good though or we might concede the race at the starting line.
So cocooned in our innocence, we naively bask in the first glow of salvation and it is not until after the new wears off that genuine trust and faith begin to drive their roots deep into our hearts. When the new does wear off, and it does, we must face up to the sinner we still are, and accept the challenges of the changes that lay ahead. To be sure, when we accept the challenge of becoming God's person, our inexperience in spiritual warfare assures we will suffer failure.
Yet, while accepting the challenge to grow does present opportunities for failure, the challenge also presents opportunities to lean on God: chances to see him work directly in our lives! In others words, if we know we can do this thing called Christianity on our own, why do we need God? Trust would have nothing to do with it. No, to be real, to be in tandem with God, faith must stretch our limits, and even frighten us at times. We must let it take us where we have never been before. The only way to prove God will catch us is by jumping before being convinced He will.
This then is the alchemy that converts failures into true faith and trust. The path we walk with God is not all smooth and paved. There are potholes in our way; places where the road, washed out completely, forces us to become expert long jumpers if we are going to walk with God any distance. There is no other way and with each leap, our trust grows stronger, our courage enhanced. The expert jumper then, risks failure to find success alongside Christ. Jumping and failing is not terminal. In other words, God's eternal forgiveness makes it better to have jumped and fallen short at times, than to have never jumped at all. Now, how far can you jump?
As always, in Christ, David M. Cornell
God Moments
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