RETURNING TO YOUR FAILURE

But Simon answered
and said to Him,
“master, we have toiled all night
and caught nothing;
nevertheless, at Your word,
I will let down the net.”
Luke 5:5

No one knows how to help you in your times of failure like Jesus does! He will not overlook your shortcoming or simply encourage you to do better the next time. He will give you victory in the midst of your failure.

Peter had fished all night without success. His was not just a meager catch; he had caught nothing, even though he was a skilled fisherman. Jesus could have said, “Peter, don’t worry about your empty net. You’ll soon be in a different business anyway.” Instead, Jesus told him to launch out into the deep and cast out his nets for a catch. How humbling it must have been for Peter. Here was a carpenter telling this outspoken fisherman how to fish!

Jesus often gets your undivided attention when you fail. You may assume He must not want you to continue because you failed so miserably in your attempt, but sometimes He takes you back to your place of defeat in order to build something good into your life.

Perhaps your problem was that you relied on your own strength instead of the Master’s. Maybe you failed in a relationship – Jesus will not allow you to abandon it; He will help you learn from your failure and experience the difference He can make when He guides your relationships.

When you try in God’s strength, you may discover that success is within your grasp. Pray and ask God to show you how to turn your failures into something that glorifies Him. Ask Him to open your eyes and help you to see things as He sees it. He will reveal the reality of your failures, and He will lead you to new victories.

Source “Experiencing God Day-By-Day; The Devotional and Journal”, by Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby ©1997. Entry September 9.