Failing Forward

Have there ever been times when you felt like a failure? It seemed that all you did and tried came to naught. Friends misunderstood you. You even began to question yourself. Life gets hard at times. How do you handle this?

Some escape in a sea of action like sports, hunting, work, and other hobbies. Others escape in alcohol, drugs and overeating. The key word is “escape.” We feel the need to “get away” from ourselves. Yet, everywhere we turn, there we are {as some bright child once said!}. You cannot escape you.

How do we deal with the hard stuff of life? Isaiah wrote: "But I said, 'I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the LORD's hand, and my reward is with my God.'" Isaiah 49:4 NIV

Isaiah expresses our feelings. He had worked and nothing was accomplished, nothing got better. He is worn out. His strength is spent. He has discovered how weak he has become. The Lord told Paul: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV

Now notice the other thing Isaiah tells us: Yet what is due me is in the LORD's hand, and my reward is with my God. Here is the place where we decide if we really believe this. Do I really know that what is due me is in the Lord’s hand and not in mine? Do I trust Him with the results of my labor and not look at my expectations?

We deal with the hard stuff of life by trusting in Jesus and not in ourselves or others. We do not seek to escape, we seek to learn and understand GOD in the midst of the trial. We may never grasp why we have walked the journey we are on. Letting the results be in God’s hand is freeing. Through this freedom healing will eventually come. “Experientially, the inner healing of the heart is seldom a sudden catharsis or an instant liberation…More often it is a gentle growing oneness with the Crucified who has achieved our peace through His blood on the Cross.” Brennan Manning; in The Rabbi’s Heartbeat; page 54

Mike Yankoski expresses a prayer that helps us walk this path: “Lord, thank you for taking terrible circumstances and turning them into amazing gifts…Move my heart to be truly generous with what you have given me.”