Failure Is a Fact of Life
John 13:36-38 NIV; John 18 NIV
Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?"
Jesus replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later."
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Peter asked, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you."
Then Jesus answered, "Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!
John 18 NIV
Can you relate to the people in the Bible? I can. and I do so quite strongly sometimes. Some of the people in the Bible remind me of people I know. And some remind me of myself. The problem is, when they remind me of myself, it's always when they're busy making a mess of things! I can't always relate to their successes, but I can totally relate when they blow it. Peter is one of those characters with whom I can really relate - especially when the only reason he's opening his mouth is to change feet. I think most of us can relate to that - a tendency to turn our mouths on before our brains kick into gear.
But when we look at the heart of Peter - at those things within him that made him one whom the Lord chose to be an apostle, and later on, to be one of the men whose leadership helped keep the early church together - there is absolutely no doubt that Peter loved Jesus and was dedicated to him. In fact, the only times he was reprimanded by the Lord were when he allowed his flesh to override his spirit, and let something totally out of kilter with God's plan came flying out of his mouth. That was Peter's problem. many times his love and devotion to Jesus did not allow him to face the reality of his weakness and vulnerability. Although he eventually became a great leader, Peter was just a man... a human being like you and me. And, like you and me, Peter would fail. The good news is that Jesus could see Peter's heart.
This is exactly where you and I are the same as Peter. We get so bolstered up in our faith we forget that we, too, can fail. And when failure comes, it wrecks us. Like Peter, we weep bitterly over our failures (Matthew 26:69-75). But also like Peter, God knows us and loves us and has called us according to His holy purpose. He knows we will fail. But He also knows that He will strengthen us through those failures and guide us to greater victory in Him.
Praise God that He sees past our failures and into our hearts. Praise God that He uses our failures to produce victories.
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