For a righteous man may fall seven times
and rise again,
Proverbs 24:16.
One thing which
is common to all mankind is that we all fail. There isn’t one out there who
hasn’t failed – some perhaps more than others. Failure is the inevitable price
of trying to do something. Abraham Lincoln said, “Those who never fail: never does
much of anything.” The Bible also has meaningful words to say about this –
these are the words of the wise man Solomon: For a righteous man may fall seven
times and rise again, Proverbs 24:16.
We can all relate well “failure” along with some of famous Biblical characters
as such as Jacob, King David and Simon Peter. Bible is the true Word of God
therefore God allowed His prophets and Apostles to record their failures with
the purpose to teach us that God is faithful and mighty enough to enable us to
overcome our failures if only we truly repent from our sins and weaknesses.
Jacob is one of
the most important characters in the Old Testament. If we look at Jacob's life,
we soon recognize that the Bible does not cover up the weaknesses and frailty
of its heroes. Jacob deceived his father and stole his brother’s inheritance,
Genesis 27:19. Jacob, though not a qualified and not a very attractive person,
was loved by God. In Genesis chapter 28 verses 10-22 we read Jacob’s transforming
encounter with God. God revealed Himself to Jacob and called that place
“Bethel” which means "the house of God." It's the place where he met
the Lord. Meeting God at Bethel transformed Jacob's life. Our failures and
weakness are nothing before God, He wants to take our life, turn it into a
trophy of grace, and bring you to the place where you see that His hand has
always been on you. He wants to turn that failure into a blessing. Jacob was a
liar by nature therefore he was named Jacob which means "conniver" or
"liar," and that's what he was. It was hard for him to do right. He
was just moving through life from one failure to another. But God met Him at
Bethel and his life was transformed completely. Are you frustrated and
distressed over your repeated failure? There's a ladder that goes from Earth to
heaven. His name is Jesus, and He said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the
Life." He wants to transform you from a failure into a success.
Let us also
consider the case of King David who had the privilege to enjoy God’s favour
wherever he went (2 Samuel 8: 6, 14). David sinned against God who choose him
to become a king over Israel. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and mercilessly
killed her husband Uriah the Hittite to make her his wife 2 Samuel 11 and
12. As a result of his sin David had
lost his peace of mind, his joy of salvation, and a good conscience. However
God was not finished with His servant. God sent His prophet Nathan to confront
and to convict David of his sin that he committed against God. God was
displeased with David and reminded him the blessings that He added in David’s
life apart from anointing David to be the King over Israel. David despised God
in spite all the blessings and benefits that he had enjoyed from God 2 Samuel
12:1-14. When Prophet Nathan confronted David, he then immediately appealed God
for mercy, he neither excuse himself nor attach blame to Bathsheba. He confessed that he alone is responsible for
this sin against God. He pleaded for a clean heart, and entreated God to
restore the joy of salvation that he had. He fell before God with broken spirit
and with contrite heart (Psalm 51:17).
God responded to
David’s deep contrition and made David as an example how the broken man becomes
the blessed man (Psalm 32). Psalms 32 describes God's sovereign grace upon a repented
sinner. David was forgiven and counted as blessed counted blessed (Psalms 32: 1-2).
The moment David repented and placed his trust upon God, God became his hiding
place and surrounded him with the songs of praise and with His loving-kindness
(Psalms 32: 7-10). Dear friends, failure are not final. God can freely forgive,
restore, and use once more the man who shows genuine repentance for his sin.
The Scriptures abound with promises of God’s ability to keep us from falling
all of our days, provided we genuinely wish to follow Him (2 Timothy 1:12, Jude
24).
Roy Riegels was
a star player, played for the California Golden Bears. He played against Georgia Tech fumble in 1929 Rose Bowl
tournament. During the first half of the
game he ran sixty-nine yards—in the wrong direction. A teammate finally caught
up with him and turned him around just before he scored for the other team. His
misplay created a change in field position that eventually resulted in points
for Georgia Tech. When the first half was over the distressed Riegels hesitated
to meet his coach because of guilty feeling. When he saw his coach he howled
bitterly and said to him “coach, I can’t do it,” he continued “I've ruined you, I've ruined myself, I've ruined the University of California. I couldn't face
the crowd to save my life.” The coach hugged Riegels with love and calmly told him,
“Roy, get up and go back out there—the game is only half over.”
Dear friends, if
you have made a thousand new beginnings in the past and have come to failure,
you can still make the 1001st new beginning today. God can still make something
glorious out of your life. While there is life, there is hope. So, never fail
to trust God. Hebrews 12:1 says, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and
the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race
marked out for us.” God has marked out a course for each of us, and sometimes
that course includes failure. But when we cling to the Savior, even our
failures can be turned into successes by the One who controls all things and
who strengthens us in our weakness (Philippians 4:11-13). Our ultimate victory
in Jesus is assured, but complete victory will only come when we are out of
this world of temptation and safe in the arms of the Lord in heaven
