You may have heard the expression, ‘failure is not final.” The same applies to failed faith.
How many times have you truly and sincerely trusted God for victory over a situation, physical healing, improvements in a relationship or strength to overcome an area of weakness but the results were not as you believed?
You prayed to God. God is going to bring to pass promises revealed in scriptures you read, so you believed.
Yet, unanswered prayers or what appeared as God’s inactions, delays or outright silence eventually caused you to question your faith. Was it real from the git-go? Was I fooled or did my faith fail?
We may be forced to contemplate the validity of our faith because of what we believe about God. That is, God makes no mistakes. He knows and sees all. There is no failure in God. He has the answers we need.
Dare that we think the problem rests with God. So it must be our faith, we conclude.
If any of this describes your past or present experience, then all is not lost. A faith failure is not final.
Consider Jesus’ words, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers,” (Luke 22:31-32 NLT).
There’s encouragement in Jesus’ response to the disciple Simon, known to many as Peter.
Jesus Knows What The Enemy Is Up To
First, Jesus acknowledged Peter was vulnerable to the enemy’s undermining efforts. Satan wants to sift whatever he can target in our life. Shake it up at its core. Disrupt its foundation. Dismantle its stability. Peter was vulnerable and we are, too.
In fact, this same Peter warned in the New Testament book he authored that “…your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour,” 1 Peter 5:8 NLT. So it’s no question that even as believers our vulnerability to enemy attacks has not escaped Jesus’ eyes.
You Are Not Left To Your Own Defenses
Secondly, we can be thankful that we are not left to our own defenses against enemy attack. Jesus told Peter that He would “plead” or aggressively pray for him. Jesus was specific to pray and protect Peter’s faith from irreparable failure, “your faith should not fail.”
If you experience a faith failure, turn your attention to the power of prayer. Pray to God. As you pray, take comfort in knowing that Jesus is actively, aggressively and specifically praying for you and whatever the enemy has targeted in your life.
It is encouraging when people pray for you. Likewise, unimaginable strength comes when you allow Jesus to pray about your situation. Approach the throne of grace, mercy and help where Jesus prayerfully intercedes on your behalf.
Meditate on this:
So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Hebrews 4:14-16
Your Future Is In The Face of Failure
Thirdly and this point may be hardest to accept. There is a bigger purpose for a faith failure and your potential as a better person. Right there in a face-to-face conversation with Peter, Jesus looked Peter in the eyes and saw a changed man with a purpose. Jesus said, “So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”
Peter was perhaps the most loyal of Jesus’ disciples. Peter even fiercely and physically defended Jesus by cutting off a soldier’s ear as Jesus was apprehended, Luke 22:47-51. That loyalty was further tested three times the night of Jesus’ arrest. Each time and under pressure, Peter denied knowing Jesus, Luke 22:54-62.
Peter was confronted with his own failures. Before these events, though, Jesus saw that Peter’s faith failure was not final. Peter’s momentary lapse in judgment would lead him back to Jesus, with a changed mind. In return, Jesus would receive Peter, giving him new hope, direction and a renewed faith.
What more can I say? Your faith is not so weak and subject to failure until a failed faith becomes final. True, exercising faith has its struggles but the risk of irreparable, irreversible harm is not in Jesus’ view or plan for your life.
Don’t give in to the enemy’s desires by giving up on your faith. Jesus has shown that He is all in. And your faith is more valuable than you think.
Until next time,
Keep the faith
Anita