Failure and Forgiveness

Failure. We’ve all experienced it at one time or another. It may have been a test in school. It may have been a relationship that failed. Maybe you failed to meet the expectations you or someone else set for you. But in any case, the shame, the guilt, the disappointment we feel is there and sometimes it can be overwhelming. Today, I want to address failure in our walk with God. Often when we fail to do what we know God wants us to do or do something we know He tells us not to do, we begin believing lies about God.

One lie is that we must wait some amount of time to have our relationship with God truly restored. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God is not trying to hang our sin over our heads. Rather he is waiting for us to repent (change our minds) and come back to Him, and to humbly confess our sin. When we do, He, as our loving Father, can forgive us and set us free from the guilt that tends to hold us back from getting up and stepping back onto the path of walking with Him. There is no time of penance, no partially forgiven state. The passage in Lamentations 3 that speaks of God’s mercies being new every morning does not mean that we must wait for a new day in order to be restored to a close, loving relationship with God. Rather it speaks to the fact that God’s mercy is abundant and never runs out.

Another lie that’s easy to believe is that there is no way God will keep forgiving us when we keep doing the same sin over and over. But take a minute and remember Jesus’ instructions to Peter. Peter asked, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22). If Jesus gave this standard to Peter, is it not reasonable to think that He will do the same or even more? Romans 5 gives us verification of this. Paul lays it out for us when he says “For when we were yet without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth [sends] his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life” (Romans 5:6-10). In other words, God sent His love to us by giving Christ to redeem us when we were away in sin, living in rebellion to Him, enemies of God. How much more then, now that we are His redeemed children, will He send His love to us in forgiveness and help us to get back up and walk in sweet fellowship with Him?

The last lie I want to address today is the lie that we have sinned to much, rebelled to long, and God will not forgive us. Luke 15 is an excellent chapter to read if this is a lie that you are struggling with. The first verses of the chapter paint the setting for us. The religious elite of Jesus’ day were bad-mouthing Jesus for reaching out to the “publicans and sinners,” those who were considered the dregs of society. Jesus responded by giving three parables. The first was about a shepherd who lost one sheep out of his flock of one hundred sheep. Jesus says that the shepherd goes and seeks it until it is found. When the shepherd finds his sheep, he carries it home and calls his family and friends to rejoice with him. Jesus finishes, “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” The next parable is about a woman who lost one of her ten pieces of money. Diligently, earnestly she seeks until she finds it. Then she calls her friends and neighbors and they rejoice together. Jesus closed the parable with, “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” The rest of the chapter is the parable of the prodigal son, who demanded his father hand over his inheritance early. Then the ungrateful son went his way, wasted his money and his life on sinful, momentary pleasures. When his money ran out and all his friends abandoned him, the son, desperate and broken found a job tending pigs. There, hungry, alone, weighed down in failure, the prodigal son remembered his father’s love and mercy and decided to return. Notice with me that the father saw his son a long way off and ran to embrace his rebellious, wayward son who had undoubtedly caused him great pain. The father joyful welcomed home the one who had initially run away. Despite the son’s keen awareness of his unworthiness, the father brings him back, not as a servant, but a beloved son. This is how God welcomes us when we return to Him after pursuing sin and our own way and seek His forgiveness.

Dear friend, no matter where you are, God is seeking to lift you from your failure and restore you to fellowship with Him. Don’t believe the lies. God has promised to forgive you when you confess your sin to Him, and to cleanse you. The very next breath you breathe, you are forgiven and there is no reason to wallow in shame, guilt, and self-loathing for another moment. Step forward and walk on in obedience with God. Don’t believe a lie. When you find yourself entrenched in the same sin for the fifth time in an hour, don’t give up and indulge in sin until tomorrow. God’s mercy is plentiful, and He will continue to forgive you. You are His child and He is not giving up on you. Do not believe a lie. You are not too far away; you are not too far gone. God is calling to you, drawing you back to Him with cords of love. He is watching for you, waiting to forgive you, and welcome you back as His beloved child. Your failure breaks your relationship with God, but it does not end it.  Come to Him and be restored.

                            COME UNTO ME

Hear the blessed Savior calling the oppress,

              ‘O ye heavy-laden, come to me and rest;

Come no longer tarry, I your load will bear,

              Bring Me every burden, bring Me every care.’

Are you disappointed, wandering here and there,

              Dragging chains of doubt and loaded down with care?

Do unholy feelings struggle in your breast?

              Bring your case to Jesus, He will give you rest.

Stumbling on the mountains dark with sin and shame,

Stumbling toward the put of hell’s consuming flame,

By the powers of sin deluded and oppressed,

              Hear the tender Shepherd, “Come to Me and rest.”

Have you by temptation often conquered been,

              Has a sense of weakness brought distress within?

Christ will sanctify you, if you’ll claim His best,

In the Holy Spirit, He will give you rest.

~ Charles P. Jones