In the economy of God, failure is not the opposite of success. It is breaking even with life. Failure is refusing to risk what will happen if we follow Jesus. Scripture is loaded with illustrations of people who made tremendous mistakes with their lives, but God could always redeem those mistakes for good. Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, Peter and Paul all had what by the world’s standards are moments of great failure. But these are the Bible’s greatest examples of people of faith. Those who are condemned in the Bible were too afraid to fail. These include the Hebrews who refused to enter the Promised Land because their spies told them about the giants in the land, the rich young ruler who could not give up his wealth and the servant who buried his talent in the ground so he wouldn’t lose it. God can turn our mistakes into his victories, but he will not save those who do not trust his salvation. That is asking a lot. It is asking us to bet our lives on God’s nature to be graceful. And we know God’s grace often shows up after the cross.
M. Craig Barnes
When God Interrupts:
Finding New Life Through Unwanted Change
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