When I Fail God

Daily Devotion for June 28^th

And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.  Matthew 26:73-75

There are so many misconceptions regarding this Christian life.  Some contend that we cannot fail God once we are saved, while others promote the idea that we cannot help but continue to fail God minute by minute.  While those are extreme views, there is a reality that is for certain, it is definitely possible to fail the Lord at times.  None of us want to do this, but it is a reality.  The response to your failure is what determines your heart. 

When you fail the Lord, are you so often tempted to quit; to walk away.  Satan places thoughts that there is no sense to continue on, or that the christian life is too hard to live; that we cannot live it, therefore, we walk away.  Everyone who is genuinely born again cannot stand to fail God.  The pain of our failure is so intense that it prompts us to one decision or the other.  We simply cannot continue in sin because we understand full well the love and sacrifice Jesus has and showed to us. 

In the gospels, we have the failure of two disciples in particular; Judas and Peter. While they both forsook and betrayed Jesus, their reaction was much different.  Both were sorrowful, but their sorrow took two different paths.  Judas completely gave up hanging himself, while Peter went out and wept bitterly.  Peter’s sorrow eventually would lead to his repentance and restoration.  John 21

Any failure toward the Lord produces sorrow in a child of God.  This sorrow, if godly, will produce repentance.  When failure comes, it must reinforce a putrid disgust for sin and a removal of ourselves from it; repentance.  Failure does not necessarily determine a person’s love for God, but how you choose to react when you do fail God will.  If given the right situation and circumstance, would you walk away?  Is your love for Jesus so deep that even though you may have failed Him, you are still determined to continue on for Him.  Confess whatever you need to confess to the Lord, turn from that sin and He will cleanse you and give you a fresh beginning.  I’ll you’ll refuse to quit, then failing God won’t produce anything but a greater resilience in you and grow you closer in righteousness and holiness, and further away from a sinful life.