Get Back Up

Peter was one of Christ’s closest disciples, was with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, and was in the garden of Gethsemane. Yet, he failed Christ. Most notably, he denied Christ three timeswhile Jesus was on trial. Yet, Jesus forgave him, and Peter wenton to lead countless people to Christ. Therefore, it is important to realize that our failures do not define us in Christ.

There is a flawed idea that good Christians never sin, and that if someone sins they are weak in their faith. However, this is not taught in the Bible. Just like Peter, no matter how often we fail,we need to get back up and try again. Proverbs 24:16 says, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” Even a just man fails and falls;the key action is not, however, the falling but the rising up again.

You can be walking after God but still fall. As the Psalmist said in Psalm 37:23-24, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.” Of all men, David knew this well. Despite falling temporarily into sin, he repented, and, in the end, God still called him a man after his own heart (Acts 13:22).

The prophet Micah declared that even if he fell, it was not the end. Micah 7:8-9 “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.” Micah specifically states that after sinning he would turn to the Lord, and that the Lord would “bring me forth to light.” The Lord offers forgiveness, no matter how many times we fail or sin.

So, have you failed recently? Have you fallen short in your daily walk? Remember the failures of Peter and David, and how,despite their failings, the Lord forgave them and still used them. So repent and cast yourself at Christ’s feet and He will lift you up. What sets the Christian apart from the lost is not that one sins and the other does not, but that when the Christian sins, he like the just man “riseth up again.”

“You are beaten to earth? Well, well, what’s that?
Come up with a smiling face.
It’s nothing against you to fall down flat,
But to lie there — that’s disgrace.”
– Edmund Vance Cooke

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – attributed to Winston Churchill