Succeeding through failure

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Philippians 3: 12

Have you ever watched a baby when they are learning to walk? Their first attempts are always unsuccessful. They may take one step which the proud parents are thrilled about but immediately they fall and land usually on their bottom.

Undeterred they get up and have another go. They may need help to get to their feet but they don’t give up. Gradually they take more steps until they can walk across the room. Then they start to run. At this point they probably will fall but not onto the safety of a well padded bottom but flat on their face. It hurts and they will need comfort before being put back on their feet to try again.

The most important thing though is that they do try again. Suppose the first time a baby fell, they never got up again! They just sat there, prepared to stay there forever. The world would be full of helpless babies, unable to walk and certainly unable to run.

Unfortunately too often this is exactly what happens to Christians. They step out in faith to help others, to pray for the sick, to witness, to prophesy and maybe they do not succeed. Their efforts are rebuffed and so they sit down and don’t try that again.

Worse comes when having succeeded in walking in some of the ways of God, they try to run into fresh levels of faith and fall. Their pride may be dented, relationships may be hurt and they may be embarrassed but the worse thing is to give up and not try again.

Steve Backlund says:  Many subconsciously believe that success is not failing at anything, but the truth is that those who succeed most will also seem to fail the most. Any time we choose to leave our safety and comfort, and determine to “walk” at a higher level in Christ, we will most likely fall down many times. Those who are the most successful in life will attempt to do multiple things (with its inherent risks), and ultimately will have a greater list of “failures” for those staying in safety to criticize. (Ouch!)

There have been times when I have given a prophetic word and it has just been ignored. I know it was from God and would have blessed both the person and the church. It is easy in circumstances like that to give up.

Failure is part of the Christian life and it is there to help us learn to persevere, trust God and grow in our faith.  It helps develop our character and deal with pride and offense.

Let’s put off our past failures, rise up and try again; let’s not give up but persevere to success. Jesus is urging us on so we may finish our race strong in him.

Accepting ourselves and others on the journey

Continue to work out your salavtion with fear and trembling  Philippians 2: 12

I watched a video on You Tube recently from a Stoneleigh Bible Week in 1998. It stirred up happy memories of these times but also made me realise how much I have changed since then. God has been doing a wonderful work of healing and restoration and things that I struggled with then are no longer an issue.

However it also made me realise that I would not like the person I was then very much and it made me realise afresh what wonderful grace God has for each one of us. He is not fazed by where we are, as he can see where we are going.  All he wants is our cooperation through joyful obedience to let him work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

I think too often we can be afraid of what God wants to do or what may be required of us. However the God who loves us more than we will ever really understand does not want us bound by the hurts of the past but liberated to walk in freedom with him.

As ever, it comes down to trusting God that he knows best and will never hurt us.  His plans are always for our good and if he is asking us to walk through something that he knows we find hard, he is with us every step of the way. He will give us the strength to come through it.

God is always telling me not to be so hard on myself and to accept myself as he accepts me. This should also of course be applied to other people.  As we realise that we are all on a journey and that God loves and accepts us as we are, where we are, he will also give us the grace to accept others where they are as well.

No one has arrived and no one is perfect but as God unravels the hurts, pains, disappointments and failures of the past it brings us into greater freedom and ability to love others.  We are all works in progress and I love seeing the wonderful things that God has done in people’s lives.

The Apostle Paul was only too aware of his past and of how God had rescued him from a religious, legalistic, persecuting past and turned those things which the devil had used for harm into the very things that are a great blessing to us today. We have the testimony of Paul to encourage us and the teachings of Paul to instruct us. Paul’s mind bound up in religion and legalism when liberated by God became a well spring for much of the Christian theology and church practise that we use and understand today.  Paul’s letters have become the foundation for the Church.

It is truly wonderful what God does in the believer’s heart and life as we trust and obey him. So do not be discouraged if you do not feel you are making progress, but accept the journey that you are on.  In the same way accept others who are also on their journeys and give grace to both them and yourselves.