April 23 I Friday

2 Samuel 16-18

Luke 17:20-37

“For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.” 

—Proverbs 24:16

When I was young, I was taught a valuable lesson that I remembered the rest of my life. I had my license for about three months and was driving a car full of my friends. It was during wintertime and we were headed from one town to another to go tobogganing. Eager to meet up with some other friends, I was flying down a country road, driving way over the speed limit. After a while, I noticed a car behind me. I thought this person wanted to race and so I sped up and went even faster. The car kept up with my speed and we were driving really fast. I remember looking into the rear view mirror thinking, “Who is behind the wheel of the car behind me?” Then all of a sudden, some lights started to flash on top of this person’s car. Turned out, the person driving behind me was a police officer and he pulled me over for speeding.

       I remember sitting in the back of the police cruiser. I was caught doing 140km/h in an 80/km/h zone, 60km/h over the speed limit; I did not get a ticket because there was no set fine for that speed. Instead, I was summoned to court, given a hefty fine and lost my license for a month. From this incident, I learned that my desire for speed comes with consequences attached to it.

       Our failures in life can teach us painful yet valuable lessons. This is the same in our spiritual lives—our failures can be the best teachers in our lives if we are trained by them. However, if we find ourselves failing the same test over and over again, it reveals something deeper. Paul tells us, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). As Christians, if we continue to fall in specific areas of our life, it reveals that we have not trusted and applied God’s Word to that aspect of our life.

       Yet, the comfort is that no matter how many times we have failed, God is patient with us. He teaches and instructs His children over time. He is gracious and does not allow our worst moments to be our defining moments. He disciplines His children and walks with them back into His ways.

       May we not let our sense of past failure defeat our next steps, but learn from the failures of our life to trust and obey God’s Word.

Prayer: Gracious and kind God, thank You for Your patience with me. Continue to guide my every step as I learn to walk in trust and obedience to Your Word.