Jesus asked his disciples (twice) to pray for Him. It was just before Jesus’s sacrifice and they were in the Garden of Gethsemane. But the disciples fell asleep twice. Then, when Judas and the Roman guards came, Peter lashed out and cut off the ear of one of the guards. Jesus had to reprimand Peter and miraculously put the man’s ear back on. And, as if that weren’t enough faltering, Peter then (as Jesus is being lead to the cross) denied Jesus 3 times, just as Jesus prophesied that He would. But the scriptures turn Peter’s failures into an example for us, making those mistakes glorious failures. Because the end result is God’s glorification.

“Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter.” Matthew 26:40.

Hard to believe that men who walked with Jesus day in and day out and saw his miracles first hand, could fail him so frequently. But I Can certainly relate.

I hate to fail. That little revelation probably doesn’t put me in the minority. In fact, it would be surprising to me if anyone said, “Oh no, failure is one of my favorite past times.” lol. But I also fear failure.

I grew up in a home with a very strict and abusive father whose favorite motto was, “You never do anything you have to say you are sorry for.” This simply meant that we, as children, should strive for perfection. We should apologize for every little thing we did out of fear. And our dad just never said he was sorry, no matter what the infraction.

As a result, whenever anything goes wrong, I blame myself first, panic and apologize, and then try to figure out how we fix the issue. 

Over the course of my life, I have had MANY failures. Some were little and some were quite large. In fact, if practice makes perfect, it’s one of the few things I am close to an expert at! LOL. 🙂

The truth is, we are all going to fail. But it isn’t the failure that matters as much as it is what we do about it. Do we wallow in self-pity? Do we bury our heads in the sand and pretend we don’t notice? Or, do we run, blame others, curl up in a ball, and just hide? Do we pray?

Fortunately for us, the scripture has a number of failures that we can use as examples. They’re not examples of how to fail, but how to persevere through the process.

King David was a mighty man of God, chosen by God to lead His people. God referred to King David on two different occasions as, “a man after my own heart.” How Godly must a man be for God to say that? 

Then he sees her. King David sees a woman that he just must have as his own. Despite the fact that she is the wife of one of his most loyal men, he has a relationship with her. And, when he finds out that she is pregnant with his child, he arranges for the man’s “accidental” death. 

Sounds like a pretty big failure to me! But, when we read the Psalms, we find that King David had a repentant heart. Now, he still had to suffer the consequences of his sin. But in Psalm 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, we see the magnitude of King David’s repentance. And in Psalms 23, 100, 117, and 136, we see King David’s praise for God’s love, faithfulness, goodness, etc. He was restored to God after He repented and got back on track.  And he became an example of forgiveness and restoration to us. That is a glorious failure.

King David, along with Peter, Moses, and John Mark, are great examples of failure, repentance, and restoration. They are great examples of glorious failures.

We are going to fail. Maybe we will fail to evangelize when the Holy Spirit leads. Maybe we will fail at work. Perhaps, we will fail one of our children with the wrong decision. Or maybe we will fail our spouse. Our scriptural examples prove that, if failure is followed by true repentance, it will also be followed by restoration.

I am not saying that if you are a bank teller and you embezzle lots of money, but go to your boss and say you are sorry, that you will not suffer consequences and be restored to your original position. 

I am telling you that our Heavenly Father will forgive you and restore you to a right relationship with Him if you are truly repentant. And, if you are right with our Heavenly Father, all the rest will fall into place. He will provide and be with you. He will give you a life with purpose, hope, and a future, just as He has promised. 

And once we are restored, we can bring God glory by telling others about what He has done for us. God can use that failure to rescue someone else from their sin. Even our failures can be glorious failures.

So, the next time you fail, let’s look to the scripture and the examples that we find there. And let’s pray, repent, and be restored. Then, let’s tell others about what God has done and turn it into a glorious failure!

I pray that your failures become triumphs and that you glory in the way that God blesses and restores you.

Father, thank you for the messages of strength, perseverance, and love that we find in your Word. Thank you that you allowed the failures of great men such as Peter, King David, and John Mark to guide our footsteps when we make similar mistakes in our lives. And Father, thank you for your forgiveness and for the glorious sacrifice that you made so that we could be restored to you eternally.

Holy Spirit, help us to seek the Father’s will in all that we do. Help us to read the scripture daily and arm ourselves against the enemy’s whispers of guilt and condemnation when we falter. Be a steadfast reminder that God will forgive us. We know that you are always with us, living inside us, and guiding our paths on a daily basis. And, when we do make mistakes, Lord, please turn them into glorious failures that bring the lost to you. In Jesus’s precious name. Amen.

Have you found yourself overwhelmed by your failures? Are you defeated and deflated by the mistakes that you have made? Do you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? God wants to forgive, restore and redeem you. Please go to our Life Preserver (https://forgiven-n-loved.com/life-preserver/) page. On that page you will find a prayer outlined. please pray that prayer. Through this prayer (when prayed from the bottom of your heart) God will forgive, restore and redeem you. Help Him turn your old failures into glorious failures that bring you restoration and Him glory.

Please pray that prayer and once you have reach out to me at admin@Forgiven-N-Loved.com. I’d love to be in prayer with and for you.

Luv ya!