Life is full of
ups and downs. Sometimes it can feel like there are more down than up. Everyone
goes through periods of discouragement and failures. It’s not falling that
keeps us down but our failure to get back up.
How fast we get
back up when we fail determines how successful we become. Great men and women learn
to get up quickly. There’s nothing wrong
when you have a bad day, bad decision or even a bad year but there’s nothing
right staying and wallowing in our wrong choices. The sooner we learn to
get back up the faster the scenery of our lives will change.
When we fall, one
of the first things we have to deal with is our own conscience. For a
Christian, the Holy Spirit is there to convict us. The Spirit never condemns us but He gently steer us back to God. On
the contrary, the enemy is the accuser of the brethren. The sooner we accept our wrongs, take ownership and repent from our
wrong ways the sooner we’ll experience God’s power of restoration and
reinforcement to get back on the road to success.
I know many people
who made a mistake years ago but are still sidelined by their wrongs. They
forgive others but they cannot seem to forgive themselves. Being trapped in the
mistakes of our past is a miserable prison. Some believe that they’re out of
reach from God’s mercy. Just the opposite is true. In the Old Testament our
sins were barely covered by the sacrificial blood of the animals. In the New Testament, our sins are not just
covered but they’re eradicated. They’re gone forever!
One of the
greatest mistakes Peter made was to deny Jesus three times. In most of our minds
that was the unforgivable sin. But Peter knew better. After walking, talking
and hanging around with Jesus, he knew the power of God’s love and mercy. Peter
wept bitterly and repented from his sins. Later, on the day of Pentecost, when
the Holy Spirit came upon Peter, he became a transformed man. The same person
who denied Christ three times was now preaching to thousands and proclaiming the
Gospel fearlessly. Historians say Peter was crucified upside down because of
his faith. What brought such radical change in Peter’s life? He learnt the secret of forgiving himself
and allowing the Holy Spirit to revolutionize his life.
Not all people
make serious mistakes like Peter. Sometimes we get angry with our kids and we
let that eat our day. At times we lose patience in traffic or long grocery line
and we allow that to affect the rest of the day. When we get rejected by a
sales call or a negative email, we can get easily discouraged. When the best
client leaves us or we lose our job, we can be upset for days. Many people
never recover from hurt and betrayal. I
say this in love but there has to come a point when we have to forgive the
offender or ourselves for our own good. We have to get up quickly and move
forward in life.
Walt Disney was
fired as a newspaper editor on the grounds that “he lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” He went bankrupt
several times before he built Disneyland. The proposed park was rejected by the
city of Anaheim on the grounds that it will only attract riffraff. Friend, don’t
let your mistakes hold you back. Your wrong choices don’t define you. They’re
just expensive lessons you’ve learnt.
Today, I urge you
to take inventory of your life. Don’t hang on to the past mistakes and disappointments.
Today is a new day. God’s mercies are new
every day. Give your mistakes to God and allow His Holy Spirit to empower you
again. You’re not washed up. God didn’t sideline you. You’re still in the game.
Like Peter and Disney, there’s a comeback waiting for you. Remember, the difference between success and failure is the person who
gets up one more time than the other. Let’s start over. I’m praying for
you!
“The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up
again” (Proverbs 24:16 NLT).
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