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Episode 16
When You Fall…
Biblical characters and saints who fell recovered their balance. This teaches us not to be intimidated or shackled by our past. God can use us again. He is God of all grace. Moreover, we are reminded that ‘the gracious gifts of God and his calling are irrevocable’ (Rom 11:29). If God calls you to the ministry, he is the only one who can recall or change that calling. But the Scripture says he won’t. Hence, ‘No institutions, governments, church leaders or even pastors, however respectable in terms of seniority or academic qualifications, have a final say in the lives of those whom God has called to the ministry (Lim 2001:x). Don’t be discouraged when you fall or fail. Defeat the fear of failure by remembering whom you serve and who are you. Learn the principle of being ‘knocked down but never knocked out.’
What happens when you fail or fall? Ask the Lord for forgiveness. God is ever ready to forgive you. Why? Because he is God. In 2 Chronicles 30:9 we read these comforting words: ‘…the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate, and he will not turn away from you if you turn back to him’. Don’t condemn yourself for the rest of your life. Accept and enjoy God’s forgiveness. It does not matter whether people forgive you or not. Ultimately, God is your final judge.
The sad part of the Christian life is that there will always be those ‘grieved by grace’ (eg the elder brother, prophet Jonah, prophets of doom and the Pharisees) and whose ‘holier than thou attitude’ will reject you whether you repent or not. That is a fact of life you must learn to accept. Life is not fair but God is always good. Your ministry to God should not depend on people’s acceptance or rejection of your message. You must let God deal with those who cannot or refuse to accept you.
Having confessed and repented of your sins, get up on our feet. Learn whatever lessons you can from your failure. Move on with your life with God’s power and help. God’s grace will give you the inner strength to bounce back from failure. His grace will enable you to go through adversity and endure hardship. Claim the promise of God in 2 Peter 1:10, ‘All the more then, my friends, do your utmost to establish that God has called and chosen you. If you do this, you will never stumble’.
What an assurance Isaiah gives when he says, ‘No more will you be called Forsaken, no more will your land be called Desolate, but you will be named Hephzibah (it means my delight) and your land Beulah (married); for the Lord will take delight in you and to him your land will be linked in wedlock’ (62:4).
When I visited my friend’s office, I was inspired by a poster with a beautiful poem by Helen Mallicoat.
I was regretting the past and fearing the future.
Suddenly my Lord was speaking:
‘My name is I AM’
He paused. I waited.
He continued, "When you live in the past with its mistakes
and regrets, it is hard.
I am not there.
‘My name is not I WAS’.
When you live in the future,
with its problems and fears it is hard.
I am not there.
‘My name is not I WILL BE’.
When you live in this moment it is not hard.
I am here.
‘My name is I AM’.
Hope in God
To hope in God means to trust him to use you again. In the meantime, be patient. Part of hoping involves learning to wait for him and upon him. ‘It is good to wait in patience for deliverance by the Lord’ (Lam 3:26). In his time and at his pace, he will use you again. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, ‘As a young man weds a maiden, so will you be wedded to him who rebuilds you, and as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so will your God rejoice over you (62:5). Micah the prophet says, ‘Because I have sinned against the Lord, I must bear his anger, until he champions my cause and gives judgment for me until he brings me into light, and with gladness I see his justice’ (7:9).
It’s Always Too Soon To Quit
God can use you again regardless of the height from which you have fallen. Never say your ministry is over when you fall. Don’t quit. Don’t give up. It is always too soon to quit. Yes, God still has a ministry for you either in a similar or different capacity. Usefulness in ministry depends on your positive response to God’s discipline and willingness to do what God asks you to do!
When God wants to drill a man,
And thrill a man, and skill a man,
When God wants to mould a man
To play for Him the noblest part,
When He yearns with all His heart
To build so great and bold a man
That all the world shall be amazed,
Then watch God’s methods, watch His ways!
How He ruthlessly perfects
Whom He royally elects;
How He hammers him and hurts him
And with mighty blows converts him,
Making shapes and forms which only
God Himself can understand.
Even while His man is crying,
Lifting a beseeching hand….
Yet God bends but never breaks
When man’s good He undertakes;
When He uses whom He chooses,
And with every purpose fuses
Man to act, and act to man,
As it was when He began,
When God tries His splendour out,
Man will know what he’s about!
--Anonymous
One, daily acknowledge God’s grace in your life. What you are today or have today - be it a good career, wealth and heath - is all because of the grace of God. Without his grace you would not be what you are or where you are. In the words of Paul, ‘However, by God’s grace I am what I am…’ (1Cor 15:10). Grace cannot be separated from God himself because grace is God acting graciously.
Two, learn to accept personal responsibility. Don’t blame the devil for your sins or bad things that happen in your life due to unwise decisions. Tragically, this happens often in the charismatic churches. This does not mean that spiritual warfare is not real. The ‘blaming game’ was started by Adam and Eve. Since then, humankind has continued to play this game. The human being has a tendency to blame everyone except himself/herself.
The epistle of Romans is one of the greatest theological treatises in the New Testament. Here you find solid Scriptural teaching on different subjects such as God, creation, predestination, sin and salvation. What surprises me is that when it comes to sin, not once does Paul mention the devil or blame him for making him sin. Instead he says clearly it is the flesh or human nature (cf Rom 7:15). Own up to your failure. Admit and accept responsibility for it. Do not blame others. It is not enough to admit it but you also must accept responsibility and own it up.
Three, learn the art of daily repentance. If you sin, confess, repent and safeguard yourself from repeating that sin. Repentance is simply agreeing with God that you are not doing what you ought to do. It is a decision you make and not simply an emotional response. More importantly, embrace and enjoy his forgiveness. Learn to forgive yourself. Get up and move on.
Four, learn from the past but live in the present. Don’t dwell in the past or let your past mistakes drag you down and away from doing what God wants you to do. Gordon Macdonald calls some Christians ‘secret carriers of the past’. They live in constant fear of their past which haunt them.
Too many of us live our lives crucified between the 2 thieves: the regrets of yesterday and the anxieties of tomorrow. By focusing on the past and future we can enjoy the present. Our past always stands to condemn us; our future is always uncertain. And if we believe the worst of tomorrow, we only face darkness (Lutzer 2000:123-124).
Whatever mistakes you have made, it is one chapter in your book of life that you must close to move forward. God does not forsake you when you make a mess out of your life. He will sustain you. He will enlarge your understanding of his providence. With him there are mysteries but never mistakes. God can bring good out of the bad. Therefore, let the past go. Be a present tense Christian and not a past tense Christian. You cannot move forward by looking backward. To have hope for the future you must be an optimist and not a pessimist.
Five, be a positive person. Instead of complaining, learn to praise God instead. If you believe in divine sovereignty, then grumbling about circumstances is grumbling against God. We seem to forget easily the sweetened waters at Marah and wonderful oasis in Elim which God provided. Everyday is a new day. As the Psalmist says, ‘This is the day on which the Lord has acted, a day for us to exult and rejoice’ (Psa 118:24).
Six, be a dispenser of God’s grace. Live a life that is characterized by grace in your relationship with others. Attitudes such as gratitude, burden-bearing, hospitality, giving, helping and walking the second mile should be cultivated. Remember what Paul says, ‘Let your words always be gracious, never insipid; learn how best to respond to each person you meet’.
Discussion Questions