I have had some crushing defeats since I became a Christian. I have walked forward in faith and fell flat on my face in failure. Wondering if I knew the Lord or his voice at all. Questioning my purpose and my faith. That’s not to say I never failed before I became a Christian. Ha! I certainly had my share of failures before being saved. However, even in my greatest victories before I was saved, I count them as lost because God wasn’t in them. I did what I did for me, and any such victory before being saved belongs to His mercy and grace and cannot be credited to me. 

Getting up after falling on our faces in faith is hard. Often the greatest steps we take in faith are apparent to everyone around us. It’s hard to miss it if we get up and move, change jobs, start a new career, or start going to church more often. If you’re anything like me, then you get excited about the changes God is making in your life, so you tell people about them. However, after a few times of sharing some amazing new thing that doesn’t work out, we can become apprehensive about sharing anything that God is doing in our lives. Even worse, we could start to hesitate and end up sitting on the fence, doing nothing. 

I’ve heard it said that if something doesn’t work out, it means the Lord didn’t tell us to do it. I rebuke that sentiment. As human beings, we are quick to judge what we cannot see. We have to be discerning in what we do. We must gauge what we believe God wants us to do, or not do, based on Scripture and his character. After all, if we judge with merely human sight, then even Christ’s ministry failed because it ended up with him dying on the cross. Even the disciples, who had been with Him since the beginning, felt the “failure” of that moment. Until He rose from the dead and confronted their unbelief. 

My mind is on these things today, because of this verse I read in 1 Corinthians 15.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain (emphasis added).

1 Corinthians 15:58 (NIV)

If we fully give ourselves to the Lord, nothing we do in faith is in vain. This got me thinking about this verse.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV)

When I think about my “failures” as a Christian, there’s not one that I can recall that wasn’t done for the glory of God and wasn’t done in faith. Paul reminds us that “everything that does not come from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23 NIV). When I was a child, I tried to help my parents out. For the most part, even when I didn’t succeed, they appreciated the effort. If my parents appreciated the effort, then how much more the Lord? When we are giving ourselves fully to Him, in faith, and to his glory? 

Do you know God? God knows you, and he loves you. He sees you as significant because you are. No one is insignificant to Him. He’s with you today, and he wants you to know him. Jesus died for your sins and mine so we could be free of guilt, be free from death, and live eternally with him. Eternal salvation is just a prayer away. 

Pray this prayer with me to accept the gift of salvation today:

Lord Jesus, forgive me for all my sins. I repent from my ways. Wash me in your blood and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I believe that you died on the cross, were buried, and on the third day, God the Father raised you from the dead. Right now, Lord Jesus, I open the door to my heart, and I receive you into my heart as my Lord and personal Savior. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, then congratulations! You are on the first step of a brand new life. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to my family, the family of God. There are abundant resources available online for new Christians. You can visit here for more information on what to do next. You can also leave me a comment, and I’ll do my best to help you on the next step of this incredible journey.

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