Failure is an event, not a person. Yesterday really did end last night. Today really
is a brand new day and gives us another choice to do with it whatever it is we wish to do. (Zig Zigler)
While driving to the hospital I thought about what I should say to Miss Jean. Her prognosis was not good and without a miracle she was going to die. It was imperative that I somehow get through to her. A few years previous Jean began attending our church and her life started to change dramatically. Every time I saw her there was a glow on her countenance and it was evident that the Lord was doing a good work in her life.
She had a reverence for God but there were many problems she battled; alcohol was one of them. After a time Jean stopped attending church and the troubles that had plagued her life began to overwhelm her new found faith. As we talked that night I asked, “If you had died when they brought you here, what would have happened?” “I hope that I would have gone to heaven.”
Jean was sincere and wanted to serve the Lord, but she struggled with the issues that kept her in a state of despair. “Miss Jean,” I said, “serving the Lord and inviting Him into our lives is like getting married. When a couple stands at the altar making vows, they are not promising to never fail or disappoint one another. They are simply promising not to leave one another. They are making a commitment to work through their problems in the context of their relationship. That is what God wants you to do. Don’t give up when you fail; work out your problems by drawing close to the Lord and allowing Him to help you.”
“The question is not are you going to fail. The real question is how will you handle failure once you experience it?” (John Maxwell). Satan condemns us for wrongdoing, but God has made provision for our failure through His grace. And it is His grace that stands in the place of our imperfections as we grow in relationship with Him. “If you do sin there is someone who pleads your cause before the Father; His name is Jesus Christ. He is the one who took God’s wrath against our sins upon himself and brought us into fellowship with the Lord” (Saint John).