My Musings – Outside the Garden of Eden, Peter’s denial of Christ was perhaps the greatest recorded failure in the Bible (although David was a close contender). And yet it was not too long afterwards that Peter and John astonished the religious leaders by boldly proclaiming Christ, causing them to take note of the impact that being with Jesus had made in their lives. Zig Ziglar is quoted as saying, “It’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce that counts.” Peter had fallen far, but through the power of the Holy Spirit bounced even higher.
I am sure Peter remembered his betrayal of Jesus all the days of his life and wished he had never denied Christ at all. He could have wallowed in shame and guilt for the rest of his life, but he chose to learn from it and let it go. And unlike the comic above, God’s “pencil” has a giant eraser that never wears out. He erases them from our record (as far a the East is from the West), but not from our memories. “The real test is not whether [you avoid failing again], because you won’t. it’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.” (Barack Obama).
My Advice – When you fail, and you will, ask yourself two questions. What can I learn from this? What can I (in the power of the Holy Spirit) do to prevent this from happening again? “Let’s face it, we’re all imperfect and we’re going to fall short on occasion. But we must learn from failure and that will enable us to avoid repeating our mistakes. Through adversity, we learn, grow stronger, and become better people.” (John Wooden).
The Brew Is A Musing 