In Touch - April 28, 2005

In Touch Daily Devotional 
by Dr. Charles Stanley

Thursday April 28, 2005

Triumph Through Failure

John 21:1-19

We’ve all made tracks through the valley of failure. What matters is how we respond: do we give up and live a defeated life or believe that God can restore us?

The story of Peter’s failure and restoration gives us tremendous encouragement. Jesus knew Peter would fail, but He had prayed specifically that Peter’s faith wouldn’t fail. Jesus told Peter ahead of time that his failure wouldn’t be the end of the story—he would stand up again and strengthen the others.

Peter failed; he wasn’t a failure. The Enemy wants us to see our failures as part of our identity rather than something that’s resulted from our actions. But the truth is that we belong to God, and our failures can actually prepare us to be used more greatly by Him. He uses these times in our lives to push our walk forward in great leaps. In order for the Lord to mold Peter into the leader of strength and humility he’d soon become, the disciple’s heart needed to be purified by being broken. When we build walls around our heart to deny God access, we are resisting much-needed brokenness and healing. If we want God to use us, we must allow Him to get rid of the “chaff” that keeps us from reaching our maximum potential to glorify Him.

Amazingly, failure can be the catalyst that moves us to a whole new vision of what God is doing in our lives. He can use our failure to give us a new beginning and a renewed understanding of the purpose He’s given us.

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