Being a Failure... Isn't That Kinda the Point?

Where do you feel like you’re falling short?  Not one of us is ever completely satisfied with ourselves.  Maybe you aren’t doing as well in classes that you’re taking.  Maybe you feel inadequate in your job.  Maybe you don’t do as well in social situations as you’d like.


It’s pretty easy to feel like we suck… probably because we do.  A lot.  Worldly success is hard enough to obtain, and we fall short fairly often at that. But when it comes to spiritual success, on our own, we’re completely hopeless.  Because of our helpless, sinful state, we are completely incapable of even reaching out to God to be saved.  Romans 3 says, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God” and “…all have fallen short of the Glory of God.”


We fall short ALL THE TIME and it is so easy to get caught up in the legalism of the law.  We kick ourselves and guilt ourselves into the ground because we think we aren’t doing enough or that we haven’t held up our end of the deal with God.


Well, here’s some good news: That’s kind of the point.


In Colossians 2, we read “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.”  The whole point of what Christ did for us by coming in human form, dying on the cross, and raising back to life, was to make us full.  Where we fall short, Christ makes up that distance.  Whether that’s spiritual, social, education, familial, or occupational, we are not defined by our successes and failures, but rather by our fullness in Christ.


Satan is called many things in the scriptures: “Angel of Light,” “God of this Age,” a “Roaring Lion.”  He is known as “The Deceiver” and “The Father of Lies.”  When it comes to our shortcomings, Satan wants to deceive us by luring us away from defining ourselves by our fullness in Christ, and blind us with our own failures and depravity.  But seeing ourselves as failures and worthless is a lie straight from the Father of Lies.


It doesn’t matter if you’re depressed.  It doesn’t matter if you’ve cheated.  It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe in yourself.  Christ makes you full.  Christ’s love never fails. It never gives up.  It never runs out on us.  We will always fall short, but Christ’s resurrection will always make up for our shortcomings and make us full and complete.

Waiting for the Thaw (A Church Newsletter Article)

Just last week, I thought winter would never end.  It seemed as if the sub-zero temperatures had penetrated my bones and frozen me from the inside out.  Nothing seemed more impossible or unlikely than the world ever warming up again. 

It’s easy to give up hope in February.  In fact, I think I do it every year.  The weather, the short days, the lack of color and sunlight… It takes its toll on a person’s morale.  But, obviously, spring returns every year.  The grass turns green, the sunshine pours forth, the snow melts, and my Vitamin D supply is replenished.

The verse on the gorgeous banner at the front of the sanctuary during this epiphany season comes from Psalm 27.  David starts this Psalm off with our beautiful theme verse, “The Lord is my light and my salvation, who shall I fear?”  We all know of David’s troubles he was experiencing while writing this Psalm.  He was constantly being pursued.  He states his hope in the midst of a pretty rough season.

David ended his Psalm with 2 verses that I find very inspiring for this dreary February season.  He declares, “I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”

Our life is lived in seasons: seasons of joy, seasons of sorrow, seasons of closeness to God, and seasons of what seems like great distance from God.  However, just as we can be completely sure that February will end and the seasons will change from winter to spring, we can be sure that the goodness of the Lord will become apparent again. 

The Bible is very clear that there will be dreary times. But over and over, we are told to be strong, take courage and wait for the Lord.  Let this beautiful week of sunshine be a reminder: Spring is near!  New life is coming!  Remember the words from Psalm 16: “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”