I FAIL JESUS EVERY DAY

I think that if we see ourselves accurately, all of us can say that same thing: “I fail Jesus every day.” While this can be discouraging, if we commit our discouragement to Jesus, it can also be a source of growth, encouragement, and gratefulness.

GROWTH? Yes! We need to be humbled before the Lord will lift us up, and failure is a great teacher of humility. Jesus told a parable about two men who entered the Temple to pray. The Pharisee was convinced of his own righteousness and moral superiority and looked down on others. The other person understood that he was a spiritual failure who didn’t deserve anything good from the Lord. He could only pray, “Lord, have mercy upon me, as sinner.” Jesus then concluded:

·       “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified [forgiven], rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14 ESV)

Why does our Lord exalt the humble and not the proud? If the proud were to be exalted, they would become even more convinced of their superiority and moral sufficiency without the grace of God. Meanwhile, the humble and broken realize that they have only God to place their hopes in. When they are blessed, they are more likely to give the credit to the One who deserves it (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).

Humility is the only fertile soil in which God’s seed grows. It is the soil that depends upon God and His ever-transforming Word.

ENCOURAGEMENT? It is our failures and suffering that cause us to look to God and to find God’s peace and encouragement. It is through the tears of our ever-present inadequacies that we look for our adequacy elsewhere. If our failures lead us to seek the comforts and reassurances of God, they are good and necessary. Scripture assures us that we will always have needs, but God is sufficient to address each one of them:

·       When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. (Psalm 34:17-19)

Why did God design things this was? It is only in the midst of our discomfort that we can appreciate God’s comfort. It is only through our destitution that we can appreciate His deliverances. Consequently, it is through our insufficiency that we discover the sufficiency of God:

·       But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Paul was understanding that his strength came from God alone, the necessary foundation for humility. In order to understand this, think of the Prodigal Son. After he had received his inheritance from his father, he left him to seek his joys. However, after he had spent his money and was compelled to compete with the hogs for his food – a futile task – he returned home to his father, the only hope that was left to him. There, he was received with a great celebration. Whenever we return to God in our brokenness, I think that there is a great heavenly celebration. Our Lord is that father who is always awaiting our return (Luke 15:7-24).

GRATEFULNESS? We are not grateful when we receive our paycheck. Instead, we regard it is our due. However, the paycheck does not reflect our relationship with God. He blesses us because He loves us not because we have earned it. In fact, we cannot earn anything from God:

·       Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. (Job 41:11; Romans 11:35)

The Prodigal didn’t show any gratefulness when he left home with his father’s inheritance. However, when he returned, his suffering had disposed him to his father’s mercy. Before, he had taken his inheritance as his right. Understandably, he showed no gratefulness. However, upon his return, he sorrowfully proclaimed to his father, “I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Luke 15:21). At this point, his father perceived that his son was ready to receive a glorious celebration.

We are not worthy of anything from our Lord (Luke 17:10), just His wrath (Romans 6:23). Scripture doesn’t explicitly tell us that the son was grateful. It doesn’t need to. Instead, we know that when we receive God’s complete embrace, instead of His wrath, we are melted by His undeserved love.

A disgraced woman had the audacity to enter a Pharisee’s house and to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears. The Pharisees were shocked that He would even allow such a filthy person to touch Him. However, Jesus explained:

·       “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” (Luke 7:47 NLT2)

Moral failures can lead to “much love” when we know that we are forgiven, totally. Our Lord is able to turn our failures into victories. Consequently, we need to regard our moral failures as a potential positive rather than a negative.

Paul had learned a corresponding truth. When God doesn’t give us what we want – a healing in Paul’s case – it didn’t mean that God was displeased with Paul but that He wanted to give him something better, the gift of weakness and neediness (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

Our Savior also gives us the gift of failure and suffering so that we would learn to adore Him for who He is. (BTW, this is a truth that only those who love the Lord can receive.)