FAILURE IS NOT PERMANENT

“Put out into deep water”—Luke 5:4

Luke 5: 1-11 is the account of Jesus using one of the fishing boats that had been used in fruitless fishing the night before.  Jesus instructed Simeon Peter to take his boat out into deep water, but notice that Jesus didn’t tell Peter how far out to go that decision was left up to Peter.  This particular passage of scripture is a great encouragement to all who have ever tried something and seemingly failed.  Let’s look at some principles that we can learn from this passage of scripture.

Now it happened that while Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee), with the people crowding all around Him and listening to the word of God; ² that He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. ³He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little distance from the shore. And He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat. ⁴ When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon [Peter], “Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch [of fish].” ⁵ Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night [to the point of exhaustion] and caught nothing [in our nets], but at Your word I will [do as you say and] lower the nets [again].” ⁶ When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets were [at the point of] breaking; ⁷ so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats [with fish], so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” ⁹ For he and all his companions were completely astounded at the catch of fish which they had taken; ¹⁰ and so were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon [Peter]. Jesus said to Simon, “Have no fear; from now on you will be catching men!” ¹¹ After they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example (Amplified Bible).

 

1.      Be available:  When Jesus had need of a boat, Peter was available to help Him out (vs. 3).  Don’t be so busy trying to make your own plans work out.  Be available for Jesus, to give you new direction.

2.      Hear—don’t interrupt:  Don’t interrupt when Jesus is speaking to you (vs. 4).  Doing so will cause you to hear, only half of what He is saying.  Because we think that we got it or that we understand, we interrupt Jesus speaking to us, about half-way through a conversation.  Countless times visions, dreams and goals are not fulfilled because we have done our “own thing.”  All because we didn’t wait to hear the rest of what, Jesus was saying to us. 

3.      Be Obedient:  Peter voiced his concerns to Jesus; however, he didn’t allow self-doubt to stop him from being obedient (vs. 5). 

4.      Be willing to go deeper:  When Jesus told Peter to go into the deep, He didn’t tell him how deep to go (vs. 4)  The depth of the water into which you and I go depends upon how completely we have cut our ties to past failures, or ways in which we have done things in the past. 

 Let’s allow the Lord to take us deeper, past the greatness of our needs or our anxieties about the future.  Remember, as with Peter, so it is with us—the fish which represents our visions, our goals, our hopes and desires are to be found in the deep things of God; not, the shallow water. We are to sail into the deep of God’s Word, allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal the greatness of God the Father, in everything that we undertake—even starting again.  Failure is not permanent—you can begin anew.  This is your New Day.   

 

 

 

 

FACING FAILURE

“Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.”—Micah 7:8

Most successful business people that I have met have had one thing in common.  They have had to face failure.  When I asked them if they had ever experienced failure, each one without fail told me, “NO!”  They all said that they did not fail—they just learned how to do something a better way.  In other words, they never deemed failure as a final.  I think that this is a key to our understanding of getting up and trying again.

Elijah felt like he had abandoned the job that God gave him to do as a prophet to Israel.   He had been very “jealous” for the Lord God.  He had killed all the prophets of Baal and now Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife was out to kill him.  He became frightened and ran away into the wilderness and wanted to die.  When Jezebel threatened Elijah he ran, revealing his false faith that she could affect his life more than the Lord God (1 Kings 19).  However God had a different plan for his life, instead of rejecting Elijah, God sent an angel to feed and strengthen him.  Not only was Elijah’s physical strength revived, but so, was his faith.  he learned that he could trust god’s hold on him more than his hold on god. 

God’s faithfulness does not depend on ours.  His performance is not predicated on ours.  His love is not contingent on our own.  In fact, the disciples had to learn this lesson.  Jesus told them that all of them would fail.  “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee” (Matthew 26:31-32).  When Jesus said, “All of you will stumble,” He was telling them they would fall away, turn away run away.  All they had promised Him would mean nothing.  What Jesus’ promise, however, stays firm.  ‘But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee” (v. 32).  He literally said, your fall will be great, but my grace will be greater.  Stumble, I will catch you.  Scatter, I will gather you. Turn from me, I will turn toward you.  You will find me waiting for you. 

Peter still did not understand what Jesus meant.  “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble” (v. 33).  Peter’s trust was in his own strength.  Yet Peter’s strength was not strong enough.  Jesus knew it and said, “Simon, Simon!  Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren” Luke 23:31-32).

Satan would attack and test Peter.  But Satan would never win Peter.  Why?  Because of how strong Peter was?  No, because Jesus was.  “I have prayed for you.”  Jesus’ prayers limit Satan. 

Jesus prays for you as well: “Holy Father, keep them and care for them—all those you have given me—so that they will be united just as we are.  “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me because of their testimony” (John 17:11, 20 NLT). 

You can face tomorrow.  You can begin again.  The heavenly Father is not asking you to wait until you become great.  He is GREAT.  He is waiting for you to rise again. 

Mother Teresa aid, “We can do no great things, only small things with great love.”

Prayer—Heavenly Father today I release my inabilities to you.  Lord I have stumbled and I ask You to forgive me and gather me to Yourself.  Today I am resolved to trust Your hold on me more than I trust my hold on You.  I give myself anew to You today asking You to take my life and use it for Your glory, in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

EVERY DEFEAT CARRIES THE SEEDS OF YOUR FUTURE SUCCESS

 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”—Galatians 6:7

 

You may have heard the expression that God does not create any failures; however, when we look at the world around us, we can see failure.  Financial institutions have failed, a variety of types of business have been forced to close there doors, and all around the world we see relationships that have failed.  Failure can be a dreadful word.  No one likes to the think about failure, or experience it.  However, everyone can be subject to the attacks of failure.  Throughout the Scriptures, many of God’s servants suffered failures.  Some of the most successful men and women in history have experienced failure.  If God does not create failures, why then are we seeing so many of them?  I believe that there are times that God allows failure because we as humans are not perfect, and those individuals who go on to eventually succeed are the ones who understand the difference between temporary defeat and failure.  These are the ones who look beyond life’s occasional setbacks, and refuse to give up, no matter what obstacles that confront them.

 

Jesus’ parable of two men who had built a house is a vivid picture of both success and failure.  One of the men built the foundation of his house upon rock, the other on sand.  When the storms unleashed their fury, one house stood and the other fell.  “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fail, for it was founded on the rock.   But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall” (Matthew 7:24-27).  In this parable, we can find two principles that can protect us from lasting failure in our personal, family, business, and spiritual lives.

 

First, always build upon the strong, immovable foundation of truth.  Any aspect of life that violates truth is doomed to failure.  It may stand for a season, but eventually it will collapse.  The truth of Scripture should be our guide in business, as-well-as in our family life.  Detours around truth and honesty will always lead to disappointment and ultimately failure. 

Second, build for the storms of life that come.  What you build will be tested.  The consequences of shoddy work, laziness, dishonesty, though it may be well-hidden, will surely bring failure tomorrow.  You cannot escape the eternal principle: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).

 

God is not the author of our failures thought He does allow it.  Even though we are His children and want what is best, we do not always know what is best: therefore, we may experience what looks like failure.  There are times that we allow ourselves to become sidetracked. Our priorities get out of order; our motivation becomes selfish; Christ is no longer the center of our lives.  These are times that God uses failure as a way of getting our attention; humbling us, and bringing us back to Himself. 

 

Always remember that there is a difference between failing and being a failure.  God does not make failures; however, sometimes He allows us to fail today in order to bring us success in our tomorrow.  God has planted in your every defeat the seeds of your future success.  Successful people are those who apply God’s remedy: humbling themselves before Him in repentance, surrendering to His will and His goals for their lives.  For the believer, every failure can be a stepping stone to success.

 

Prayer—Father I thank you that You have not made me a failure. Today I humble myself before You, and repent for doing things my way. I ask you to help me turn every situation in my life into a success, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

DARE TO DREAM

“I will give you a new heart.  I will give you new and right desires.  I will put a new spirit within you.”—Ezekiel 36:26(LB)

 

Are you willing to dare to dream?  Or is fear of failure or rejection keeping you shut down and imprisoned.   You are an important creation of God, and He wants you to desire His best.  “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But God has revealed them …” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).  You were created for a particular purpose!  Go ahead and dream and ask God to direct you.  Remember, many great visions start with small dreams.   Michelangelo, the great sculptor, bought a chunk of marble which others thought was inferior.  When asked why, he replied, “Because there is an angel locked in that marble, and I must set it free.”

 

No matter where we are in our self-evaluation today, we can move on.  We can dare to dream.  Dr. T.L. Osborn, once said, “When I think of any one who is imprisoned by a sense of inferiority because of race, color, social, academic or economic status, or when I see someone who is lonely, abused, discouraged or afraid, I know that inside that individual is a super person whom I must find the way to set free.”  Because Dr. T.L’s messages are so uplifting and positive, they help to remind me of God’s original idea for me: to share His life and His abilities with me, to make me happy, healthy, talented and prosperous.  Jesus summed up the Father’s will for me when He said, “…I come that you might have life and that more abundantly” (John 10:10).

 

In Barbra Streisand’s powerful film, YENTL, an intelligent young woman grows up under her rabbi father’s religious dominance.  As a female, she is forbidden an education, prohibited from reading rabbinical books, predestined to a lifetime of female inferiority and servitude.  Her hunger and thirst for knowledge coupled with her determination caused her to break sacred rules…she dared to read the Talmud.  She went as far as, disguising herself as a male in order to pursue Talmudic studies as a yeshiva—the sacred domain of male’s only.  She is finally alienated from her people and journeys off into the distance with a boatload of seemingly displaced nonpersons in search of a land that is free of religious bigotry.

 

Her sin?  She dared to desire and look beyond religious limitations.  She dared to dream that God must be as good to women as He is to men.  As Yentl struggles with her free spirit and struggles with religious prejudice, she expresses her desperation in some awesome songs. 

 

She asks:  Where is it written that I cannot be the person I am meant to be?  Describing the narrow views religion has permitted her to glimpse, she realized that she had only been allowed to see a piece of sky.  Now she had stepped outside and looked around, having never dreamed the sky was so wide or so high.  Because of her new found knowledge, Yentl is now born into a new world.  She has a voice now.  She has a choice now.  

 

She asks the question, why is a bird given wings, if not to fly?  Why have eyes to see and not see? Or arms to reach, and not reach?  Or a mind unless you are meant to question why?  Or why have thirst if not to drink? 

 

The entire, moving story, dramatizes the glorious enthusiasm of a person who has at last understood that God gives us the power of positive desire.  When at last you understand that you are a new creature and that old things have passed away, at last you can say with Paul, “Those who belong to Christ have nailed their natural evil desires to his cross and crucified them there” (Galatians 5:24 LB).

 

F.F. Bosworth said, “Always desire what God desires, and desire it for the same reason He desires it, and then His Holy Spirit will work with you to achieve what you want.” 

 

Prayer—Father I thank You for the power of positive desire.  Today, I examine my desires and I ask the Holy Spirit to shine His illumination upon anything in me that is not from You.  Lord, I repent of __________________and I ask You to forgive me.  Help me Father to desire what You desire for the same reason that You desire it, in Jesus’ Name.  Amen.