Caught!

While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you” (Luke 24:36).

Most of us live with a fear of failure. The need to succeed is strong. We don’t want to be embarrassed. Think about the stress that report card season causes for teachers, students and parents. Or take field day. When I was in grade school, the day was all about first, second and third place ribbons. One year, they started handing out participation ribbons so that no student would go home ribbon-less. They were not put on display. We were not fooled; they smelled of failure.

In the Christian life, we have the same problem. We need to succeed. How many of us haven’t quit devotions because we can’t pray as well as the next person? Or we miss a couple of days of Bible reading and before we know it feelings of failure set in. We don’t start again until some motivational speaker gets us back on track. We tried witnessing once; it was a disaster. Never again.

But what if we could see a different picture? What if we see Jesus entering the locked room his disciples were hiding in? He didn’t wait for them to get their act together. He met them in their failure and doubt and sent them out as his witnesses. What if he had let Peter sink that day Peter walked on water and then got filled with fear? Jesus doesn’t do that. He reached out his hand and caught him (Matthew 14:31).

Our God recognizes our weaknesses and proneness to failure. Thus, he is described as “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (Psalm 103:8). Even Abraham, that Old Testament great, failed in his walk with God. But he was not abandoned. He learned from his failures; they helped him grow in faith.

Many of our unbelieving co-workers expect perfection from us. We lean into this heresy when we refuse to forgive ourselves. One of the ways that we can portray the character of our God is not getting bogged down in our shortcomings. This does not mean that we should take sin lightly, but to know in our very bones that it does not have the last work. When we let him down, Jesus reaches out and catches us.

Surely, if the world can see a people who believe more firmly in the grace of God than the taunting of the evil one, they will want to know our God. When we fail, hear the words of Jesus, “Peace be with you.” The Spirit will pick you up and send you out again.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

Wherever God takes you today, may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.