Lessons from setbacks!
Verse for Today: Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Joshua 7:7 – And Joshua said, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!
Past victory is often forgotten at the time of failures. These setbacks send powerful psychological blow to God’s people and often lead them into despondency. But God wants the intoxication of praise at the time of victory to lead His people even through failures and teach them lessons. Failure is not a time to get depressed, but to lead us to introspection. We must understand that one victory in one situation is no guarantee that we will be perpetually victorious. Victory demands that we rely on the Lord at all times. One victory doesn’t mean that we take the future battles for granted. Our failures are often because we defeat ourselves. Overconfidence is a byproduct of our dependence on our own strength and past experience. God wants us to depend on Him irrespective of past victories. Each battle has to be won in our trust in the strength of our God and not in self confidence. Victory in battles demands continuous surrender to the Lord. Our victory has to be the Lord’s victory through us as His instruments. Setbacks necessitate reexamination of all our instruments, to make sure that they are spiritual and not of the flesh. If we use instruments of selfishness and disobedience, we are bound to lose. If we want to be victorious, we must declare ourselves incompetent and unworthy. If we encounter failure, we must take a look at our track record of self will, overconfidence, pride, arrogance and disobedience. If we confess our lack of trust and disobedience, God will give us victory in our battles. One failure should not tempt us to condemn the pathway that our Lord has made us to walk so far, but to get back to walk worthy of the call with which we are called. We must not forget the fact that disobedience can cause even Joshua, Abraham or Jacob to taste failure.
Hello soldier, have you experienced failure in your walk lately? Perhaps you never expected to taste failure. Perhaps you thought God will help you to ride on the chariot of victory perpetually! Perhaps in your spiritual enthusiasm, you would have forgotten that a loving Father will also chastise His beloved children by permitting setbacks in life. It is important to realize that God uses failure sometimes to teach His children valuable lessons in life. If you have tasted failure in your job situation, business, relationships, family life, church life or in personal life of devotion, it is time to examine the possible reasons for it. This is not the time to get frustrated, but to find the reasons for the setback and how to straighten out your life. It is time to renew your commitment and devotion to the Lord. It is an opportunity to check out any element of rebellion, disobedience, overconfidence, pride and lack of trust in your life. God expects brokenness in your life so that He can rebuild you His way. You need to cry before God and confess the failures in your personal life. But it should not sink you into frustration. It is important to guard your mind and tongue not to utter unfortunate expression as Joshua did. Jacob had such frustrating words in His mouth and he lived in depression for over thirteen years while God was preparing his situation to lead him to victory. Israel’s setback at Ai speaks to us loudly about the failures which emerge in our lives if we deviate from the path of obedience and surrender. Today we are challenged to look into our hearts and straighten out our lives rather than sink deep into frustration. We are challenged to move from failure and setback to victory and jubilation by recommitting ourselves. God wants confession and repentance from us before He allows victory again in our lives. When we deal with disobedience in our lives, God will work in us to march forward from victory to victory.
1 John 5:4 – This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
Thought for Today
God uses our setbacks in life to teach us lessons in obedience, trust, commitment and surrender so that we can march from failures to victory.
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