Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, . . . and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers. . . . Then the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them (Judges 2:11-12, 16).
THEME
FAILURE
C. T. Studd, the great missionary to China, India, and Africa, ended his life as a morphine addict. Despite all of his success, his last days were dark ones. His mission board dismissed him; he died a few weeks later.
Israel showed power and promise in escaping from Egypt. The people, however, unlike Studd, displayed their selfish addictions early. Trouble erupted only a few miles from Egypt. The faithless people, grumbling and carousing, played out a drama of disaster and death for forty years in the desert.
Joshua's leadership brought new hope to the nation when the people finally entered the Promised Land, but his successors, the judges, gave Israel a topsy-turvy season of success and failure.
Some judges ruled wisely and in peace, but others did not. And the people were mostly wicked during the whole period.
The failure of the judges led the people to demand an earthly king. Saul, David, and Solomon gave Israel some success, but many of the mad monarchs that followed wrote their stories of failure in blood.
For many, the last pretender to the throne was the greatest failure. He too wrote His story in blood--His own. But as King of kings, He turned failure into victory.
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APR 01
JUDGES 14
Samson said to his father, "Get hell" (Judges 14:3).
Failure to exercise self-discipline can ruin a person's health and happiness. A girl I know will probably die young if she doesn't control her eating habits. And I'm acquainted with a young man who is destroying himself because he never learned self-discipline. He grew up in a wealthy family and inherited a position that pays a high salary, but he is on the brink of financial disaster because of his drinking and gambling.
Lack of self-discipline caused Samson to make the mistakes that led to his capture by the Philistines, who put out his eyes and forced him to work like an animal. His downfall began when he wanted to marry a heathen girl and wouldn't listen to the objections of his parents. His demand, "Get her for me, for she pleases me well," set the pattern of self-indulgence that ruined his life.
Without self-control, we can squander great talents and waste wonderful opportunities. Our appetites for food, our sexual desires, our enjoyment of recreation, and our drive to succeed can become all-consuming if we fail to hold them in check. People who excel in their sport for many years do so because they eat properly, exercise, and practice regularly. Likewise, people who consistently walk with God discipline themselves to read the Bible, pray, and obey Him.
"Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin" (John 8:34).
When we repeatedly give in to a particular sin, we become a slave to it. A man dying of AIDS admitted that he had felt guilty about his homosexual way of life. But he couldn't carry out his resolve to give up his immoral lifestyle. Another young man admitted that his wife left him because of his preoccupation with pornographic literature. He's unhappy, but he can't stay away from smut shops. Similarly, many people who take cocaine know they are ruining their lives, but they feel powerless to give up the habit.
Samson too had become a slave to sin. He continued an affair with Delilah even though he knew she was bent on betraying him to his enemies. Samson was not stupid, but he was a slave to his lust. Like the homosexual, the pornography addict, and the drug user, he could not do what he knew he should.
Once we start down the wrong path, turning back is difficult. Jesus said that whoever keeps on sinning will become a slave to sin (John 8:34). Some of the most dangerous practices bring temporary pleasure. That's why they are so ensnaring. Freedom, however, is found in becoming a slave of Jesus Christ.
When we are in the grip of an evil practice that is ruining our life, we can acknowledge our sin and helplessness to the Lord, submit fully to Him, and be assured that He will deliver us.
--H.V.L.
The pleasures of sin are for a season, but its wages are for eternity.
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APR 03
PHILIPPIANS 2:12-17
God . . . works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).
The great inventor Charles Kettering suggests that we learn to fail intelligently. He said, "Once you've failed, analyze the problem and find out why, because each failure is one more step leading up to the cathedral of success. The only time you don't want to fail is the last time you try." Here are three suggestions for turning failure into success: (1) Honestly face defeat; never fake success. (2) Exploit the failure; don't waste it. Learn all you can from it; every bitter experience can teach you something. (3) Never use failure as an excuse for not trying again. We may not be able to reclaim the loss, undo the damage, or reverse the consequences, but we can make a new start.
God does not shield us from the consequences of our actions just because we are His children. But for us, failure is never final because the Holy Spirit is constantly working in us to accomplish His purposes. He may let us fail, but He urges us to view defeat as a steppingstone to maturity. God is working for our good in every situation, and we must act on that good in order to grow.
Knowing how to benefit from failure is the key to success--especially when we trust God to work in us, both to will and to do His good pleasure.
--D.J.D.
Success is failure turned inside out.
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APR 04
ISAIAH 54:1-10
"Do not fear, . . . For you will forget the shame of your youth"
(Isaiah 54:4).
Two men walking down a country road decided to take a shortcut home. They passed through a field where a number of cattle were grazing. Deeply engrossed in conversation when they reached the other side of the pasture, they forgot to shut the gate behind them. A few minutes later one of them noticed the oversight and ran back to close the gate. As he did, he remembered the last words of an old friend who summoned all his children to his bedside and gave them this wise counsel: "As you travel down life's pathway, remember to close the gates behind you."
The man knew that problems, difficult situations, heartbreaks, and failures were inevitable, but he wanted his children to know that they didn't have to allow those things to follow them through life.
This is especially true for believers. Once we have confessed a sin and have done what we can to right the wrong, we must put the incident behind us.
The apostle Paul told us to forget the things of the past that will hinder us and to reach forward to those things which are ahead. Then we will be better able to "press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Php 3:14).
When it comes to the failures of the past, we can always close the gate behind us.
--R.W.D.
We invite defeat when we remember what we should forget.
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APR 05
ACTS 15:36-41
But Paul insisted that they should not take [him] (Acts 15:38).
Get Mark, . . . for he is useful to me (2 Timothy 4:11).
Although we can never undo a failure, we can learn from the experience and profit by it. A baseball pitcher who loses a game because he throws a fastball right where the batter wants it may come back four days later and hurl a shutout. He'll never erase the lost game from his record, but his failure can teach him valuable lessons that will help him to chalk up more wins than losses.
In Acts we read that John Mark accompanied Paul and Barnabas when they started their first missionary journey (Acts 13:5), but he soon departed from them (Acts 13:13). While he was at home, he apparently regretted what he had done, so he asked to be included the next time his older friends set out. Barnabas wanted to give him another chance, but Paul didn't, so they parted company and formed two teams--Barnabas taking Mark, and Paul taking Silas. Young Mark couldn't erase his first failure, but he must have learned from it because he became a respected Christian leader of his day. Furthermore, God used him to write one of the four gospels; and Paul, in his second prison epistle to Timothy, asked for Mark, saying, "He is useful to me for ministry."
It doesn't do any good to brood about what went wrong. Wishing we could do something over is an exercise in futility. Each day is new. With God's help we can succeed, if we learn from yesterday's failure.
Christians live in "the land of beginning again."
--H.V.L.
Failure doesn't mean you'll never succeed; it will just take longer.
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APR 06
PSALM 37:18-24
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand (Psalm 37:24).
When the deplorable practice of slavery still existed in the United States, a plantation owner went duck hunting one day with his slave. The master was an atheist, but the slave was a deeply spiritual Christian. On the way, the carriage wheel lost a rim, and the master ordered the slave to hammer it back on. In doing so, he accidentally hit his finger. Instantly some bad words passed from his lips, but just as quickly he was on his knees asking forgiveness.
"Sam," said the master, "you're a Christian. Tell me, why do you struggle and flutter so to live it? Here I am an infidel, and I don't have any problem like that. Certainly infidelity is more peaceful than Christianity." Sam had no answer, but just then some ducks flew overhead. The master raised his gun and fired two shots. "Go after that wounded one, Sam, not the dead one." Spotting the fluttering bird, Sam exclaimed, "I've got an answer for you, Boss. You said Christianity is no good because I have to struggle. Well, I am the duck with the broken wing, and the devil's after me. I'm alive and struggling to get away from him. But Boss, you are the dead duck!"
In learning to live a consistent, Christ-honoring life, we sometimes despair over our failings. Even though we know we can experience victory, we are weak and we often fall. But Christ's restoring grace enables us to get up and go on. Our struggle is a sign of life.
--D.J.D.
To rejoice in righteousness and grieve over wickedness is proof of a genuine Christian.
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APR 07
PHILIPPIANS 1:8-18
The things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel (Philippians 1:12)
A young pitcher who entered the major leagues had such a blazing fastball that he didn't think he needed to work on his control, his changeup, or his curve. Consequently, he failed to make the grade and was sent back to the minor leagues. Though disappointed, he worked on these pitches, and in time became a superstar.
Winston Churchill failed twice to win an elected office during the early 1920s and had little political influence all through the 1930s. But he kept developing his talents, and in 1940 he became the Prime Minister of England. Today he is acclaimed as a great hero.
The apostle Paul planned to go to Rome to preach the gospel as a free man, but he was taken there as a prisoner instead. It looked as if he had failed to achieve his noble ambition. In his place of confinement, however, he witnessed to the guards with such persuasion that most of them were converted, and from his prison he wrote some of his outstanding epistles. That's why he could write to the Christians in Philippi that everything had turned out for the advancement of the gospel.
When our carefully laid plans fizzle, it's time to analyze our failure and take appropriate action. If we discover that we blundered, we can correct our mistakes. If we trace our seeming lack of success to circumstances beyond our control, we can ask God to teach us what He wants us to learn and trust Him to bring good out of our disappointments. A failure then becomes a steppingstone to success.
