Nobody likes to fail. Failing can be more difficult to comprehend when we have worked hard towards the goal, exam or test and it doesn’t work out. It is disheartening and we are well within our rights to be upset. But what if there is a greater opportunity to trust God in our failures. This is an article to help you find hope and trust in God despite failure. Also, show how our failure does not mean the end of Gods plan for our life.
Failure happens
I have failed. I have failed an exam, I failed a subject and I have failed on numerous other occasions. Failure can leave us without any hope or belief in our own abilities or the plans of God. It can even be easy to blame God during our failures as to ask “why did I fail when you have a plan?”. However, what if this failure was the moment that birthed our testimony? There are examples of God using the failings of people in the bible to launch them into purpose. I am not saying that we should fail on purpose, so God can use it, but I am saying, when we do fail, God can and most definitely will use it as failure can be a catalyst for change.
Truthfully, as much as we attempt to categorically avoid it, there may come a point in life where we fail something. The aspiration is that we have a hope greater than our failures and we are not defined by them. We fail only one moment or situation or test, not life. We do not have to constantly carry out failures. As the Word says to lay our burdens down (Psalm 55:22), we can lay our failings too. And we should.
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Finding Hope
Peter, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, failed a crucial test at the moment where it seemed to matter the most. In Marks gospel, Peter and the other disciples are with Jesus, eating the Passover meal (Mark 14:22-26). As Jesus explains what is to happen and how everyone will fall away, Peter speaks up vehemently declaring that although everyone will leave, He will not (v.31). The test placed before Peter was if despite what the Lord had said, He would stick to His word. Later in the chapter, the moment of the test arrives and unfortunately, Peter denies Jesus (v.70). He fails this test. We can see Peters dismay at the outcome even though He believed He was prepared (v.72). Sadly, we can be as prepared as possible yet still fail. Nevertheless, this example is reassuring because of the close relationship between Peter and Jesus. We too have a closeness with Jesus through our salvation which is why we can learn from this story.
For Peter, this failure may have seemed detrimental to completing the purpose Jesus had previously declared over his life when He said, “you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). And sometimes failing can cause us to believe we will not meet expectations and start believing we cannot access God’s best. However, on Jesus’ return, He restores Peter and lets Him know he can still be the rock, by asking Him to feed his sheep, then to follow Him, as before. To Jesus, the plan remained unchanged and Peter’s purpose was still the same.
Trusting God
Although Peter was upset at the events that had transpired, once Jesus assured him of the plan over his life, Peter let go of his failure. He walked into the purpose, with what I could only assume was more solid determination, to become one of the founding people in the Christian faith. The book of Acts documents how he boldly declared the name of Jesus and preached the gospel through adversity. We cannot allow ourselves to wallow in our failures when we believe in an omnipotent, omniscient God.
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Numbers 23:1
No failure can get in the way of an almighty God. His plans are for good, not to harm us, to give us a hope and future (Jeremiah 29:11). There is hope in Jesus Christ, a future in eternity and a promise that God will work all things out for our good, even if it does not feel like it. Trust God in your failure, let Him show you what He can do.