Failure, Fear and Faith

My thinking has been challenged many time throughout this journey that Joel and I are now on. I have begun to accept and even expect God to alert me to erroneous assumptions that have been a part of my thinking for so long. Recently, I have been amazed again by God’s incredible grace.

I have struggled with the idea that failure disqualifies us for service. It just seems like if we fail in our walk with God, especially in a way that damages our testimony, our service to God become limited by that failure.  But God in His great grace, takes failure and turns it into opportunity. He knows that we are but dust. So many times in Scripture, He used the most unlikely characters to glorify Himself. Take the story of Peter, for example. Although he had boldly proclaimed his loyalty to Jesus, at the moment of truth, he denied he even knew Jesus! Not just once, or twice, but three times! Peter felt great remorse for this choice, but Scripture does not tell us that he went back and confessed his lie to those around the fire that night. Nor does it say that he begged Jesus for forgiveness. However, Jesus still reached out to Peter. He drew Peter back in a beautiful encounter between the two of them on the beach after Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus asked Peter bluntly “Do you love me?” and when Peter boldly declared his love, Jesus commissioned him, “Take care of my sheep.” He accepted Peter’s declaration of love and challenged him to live that love, by ministering to others. Jesus gave Peter a prominent part in the building of His church, even after his very prominent failure!

But I think what amazes me most about this encounter, is that Jesus foretold Peter’s final end, and the Bible clearly says that Peter’s death would glorify God. The one who had been so fearful for his own life, that he had lied, and fled into the night, denying his Savior, would one day, be brutally killed, and glorify God in the process. Sometimes, God allows us to experience exactly the most frightful thing we could ever imagine, so that we will also experience the amazing joy of sharing in His glory.


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