by: Leon

We’ve all experienced failure – a time when no matter how hard we seemed to try – we couldn’t get the results we wanted. I don’t know what YOU have experienced personally but for myself, failure is one of the hardest feelings to cope with. If I could describe the feeling of failure, its like a mix between guilt and disappointment, supplemented by a strong willingness to give up.

Failure can knock on our door for a number of reasons. We can fail in our education. We can fail in our relationships. Our marriages can fail, our jobs, sometimes, we even feel like we have failed ourselves. When I think of failure in the Bible, the first person that comes to my mind is Peter.

Peter – we read from the gospels, had some amazing success. In fact, Jesus declared him the rock on which the church would be built. Despite this, he had his own failures. Peter was the apostle who had faith enough to try and walk on water with Jesus. (Matthew 14) But what many forget to mention is Peter’s moment of doubt on the water, which caused him to sink.

If not for the hand of Jesus reaching to pull him up  – peter would have drowned. During the arrest of Jesus, fear for his life caused Peter to deny even knowing him, not once but three times. The Bible tells us after Peter denied knowing Jesus, he went away and wept bitterly.

Yet, Peter does not let his failure keep him from moving forward. In the book of Acts, Peter becomes one of the first to preach the gospel to the unsaved in Jerusalem. Peter becomes one of the first to be used to heal a lame man, and he becomes the first to lead the very early start of Christianity. The Bible tells us thousands were saved because of the preaching that started with Peter.

Failure can be damaging. It makes us want to bitterly weep as Peter did, but it doesn’t have to keep us from the right outcome. In the end, Peter got up and he put his trust in God. God still used him for something great. His failures only ended up being a testament to us that no matter how hard we fall; we can get up and we can be used by God. Whatever failure we might have had is insignificant compared to the plan God has for us. What if Peter let his failure take root and keep him from moving forward? The world would be a lot different today.

Don’t let any failure keep you from moving forward. Get up and put your trust in God. No failure is bigger than His promises. If you are willing – He will use you.