Stewarding Failure

In the historical account of the conquest of the Promised Land there was also failure. After Jericho’s great victory they faced the small stronghold called Ai. We usually think that after taking the biggest one, it will be easier to take the smaller one. The biggest or the smallest is only easy if God gives us the counsel. They lost the first battle with Ai and they were greatly distressed. They asked counsel of the Lord and found out there was sin in the camp. An Israelite named Achan had taken items that had been forbidden from the previous battle of Jericho. This brought reproach upon the entire nation. They were also presumptuous and this played a part in their failure. They corrected the problem and asked for the strategy of the Lord, and won the battle with ease.

Later in chapter 9 the Gibeonites came to Joshua with a sad story. They pretended to come from a far place. Their food was molded and their clothes appeared to be worn. Joshua made a covenant with them to spare their lives. In a few days they learned that they were their neighbors. Again, failure to ask counsel of the Lord brought them into a covenant that they regretted. However, they made the Gibeonites their servants and benefited from their labor.

Failure is not the end of the road. Shame and guilt are two major tools in the hands of the enemy. These stories are lessons for us today. These two failures did not stop the Israelites from their conquest of the Promised Land. In the same manner our failures must not hinder us from all that God has promised us. It must not hinder us from doing all the purposes of God in our generation. David served all the purposes of God in his generation although he made some terrible mistakes (see Acts 13:36). It isn’t what happens in our lives that makes the difference, but how we handle what happens.

The biggest trick of the enemy is to immerse us in shame and guilt. When we fail, the enemy wants us to feel helpless. Guilt and shame are his best weapons to keep us down. A powerful scripture is found in Romans 8:1 when Paul declares, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.” I have used this scripture countless times when I have failed. It is a relief scripture. You can stand on it and let out a sigh of relief. Christianity 101 teaches us that for the believer, condemnation comes from the enemy and conviction comes from Holy Spirit. You can discern the difference. Condemnation never offers a solution while conviction offers a way to repent and fix the problem or failure. Holy Spirit speaks in the right tone and offers hope. The enemy speaks harshly and never offers help.

Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” To be poor in spirit is to recognize our need for more grace. We must always be aware that we are in need of God and more of His grace daily. The person that has matured and experienced God in mighty ways must always understand that they have only experienced a part. We are like a seashell that has been filled by a part of a single wave, yet there is an endless ocean of God’s Spirit out there. Blessings can make us arrogant and prideful. Sometimes we feel we have moved to a new level and we begin to divide ourselves from those who are less mature. Sometimes we feel we need to fix everyone else.

Once I was in a setting where people were in great need of deliverance. Addiction was all around us. A friend that was with me expressed our need to have a greater measure of the power of God upon our lives so that we could set the people free. I agreed with him, and I felt sad that I have been slow to reach the place of power that I have needed to reach in my spiritual growth. I could feel guilt and shame moving into my heart. It is times like this that I must guard my heart and I must not allow myself to fall into condemnation. I need the power of God upon my life greater than I ever have, but I refuse to feel guilt for the lack of transformation around me. I recently heard the Lord say to me that I did not need to feel guilt for the slow process of transformation in my city and region. He said that I did not need to feel guilt or shame over the condition of my city. I will not carry guilt for the spiritual condition of the Appalachian Mountains. I will cry out as one who is poor in spirit and thereby access the riches of Heaven. We must let it go. A generation that can recognize their need without guilt and shame will change the world.

When we fail we will either fall into guilt and shame over our failure or we will try to make excuse for it. These excuses can be heretic in nature. For example, when we pray or speak healing over someone and they are not healed we try to explain it. Sometimes we come up with reasons such as, it wasn’t God’s will to heal the person. So, because we failed to accomplish what we thought we would accomplish, we try to change the word of God and the personality of God. Instead of doing this, we should continue to stand on the goodness of God that comes without respect of persons. We don’t even have to explain the failure to people or ourselves. We can look at it as if we are sowing seeds – that one day real soon our efforts will bring forth a hundredfold. When I think of sowing, I am reminded of the missionary who prayed for blind people. She prayed for dozens before she was able to see a person healed. Then, she began to see many healed. When I speak healing to a person, I am proclaiming healing into the atmosphere. The word will not return void. It will accomplish what it is sent forth to accomplish. I must keep speaking like one keeps sowing seeds and know that I can expect a harvest. The result in doing this is that failure does not hinder us. The conquest comes. The Promised Land is ours and we are taking it.