#iCONVICTION: Failures Aren’t the End

I am living proof that failures aren’t the end of living, but can serve as the humbling opportunity to begin again. You see, we all fall from time to time, but it’s how we respond and recover that determines, not the outcome, but how we come out on the other side.
You never really know the outcome at the beginning of adversity or as you are moving through a tragedy.
But God does.
He knows the outcome of every circumstance, and He can choose to guide us around the hardship or the suffering, but often He chooses not to. Why?  Because He has a purpose in mind, which would not be fulfilled if He snatched us out of our valley moments.
His major purpose is to deepen our faith, so that when we come out on the other side we can highlight His grace.
So He allows failure, disappointments, and even tragedy; and then uses all of it as a teaching tool to show us first-hand what true grace, mercy, love, and faithfulness looks like.
I can attest to the reality of God at my darkest moments when there was nowhere to look but up. It was His presence that surrounded me and filled me. And it was through His Holy Spirit that I not only gained comfort, but I can boldly proclaim the reality and intimacy of my God.
And in the words of Job in the Old Testament, one who was called righteous by God Himself, “My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen you” (Job 42:5).
Job was a man loved by God, and yet God allowed him to lose all of his riches, comfort and health, and worse yet, all of his 10 children. And it was after all of that when Job acknowledges a new level of intimacy with God. Remarkable.
Think about that.
Whatever you are facing that is holding you down, look up and through Christ find the strength to get up. And it is right there where God’s graciousness shows up. In my situation, even in my shame.
Yes, people will try to remind you of what you’ve done. But that doesn’t mean you have to be defined by what you’ve done. You see, when Jesus died for the world, He assigned us our worth. He covered our pitiful failures with His successful love.
He gave us a new start with each fall and a new beginning with each scar. So even from the deepest pit or the darkest hole, God’s redemption can reach into and revive any soul.
Therefore, failures don’t need to end with shame. Because when you look at the cross, you will see that Jesus put an end to shame. Which means, by God’s grace, there is nothing left for you to do but to begin with faith and surrender everything else at His feet.
Matthew Maher is a former professional athlete and author of the newly released book U MAY B THE ONLY BIBLE SOMEBODY READS: R U LEGIBLE? His “Decisions Determine Destiny” assemblies are funded by State Farm and service youth in the tri-state area. He is the President of Soldiers For Faith Ministries and also the Director of Student Ministries at Coastal Christian Ocean City. He served four years and seven months in N.J. State prison and was released August 2014. You can learn more at www.themattmaherstory.com. Follow him on Twitter @mattmaherstory and on Instagram @matthewmaher7