"Ours is a success-orientated world, where one's value is often measured by wealth, social position or profession. Failure in such a world is frowned upon.
Thankfully, that is not the way of God's kingdom. The Lord has a different way of measuring, for He "does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).
BUT Christians still fall prey to the world's standard for success. STRUGGLES, unmet goals and unrealised expectations can lead to despair, a sense of failure and a feeling of worthlessness. THE Scriptures, however, present a different outlook. God's Word says STRUGGLE and FAILURE can become sources of STRENGTH and PERSONAL GROWTH. THEY can be stepping stones to heavenly success (Psalm 37: 23-24).
THE supreme human example is our Lord. His crucifixion was, by all wordly standards, a failure - a failure to justify His three years of ministry, a failure to overcome the might of Rome and an apparent failure to keep the promises He made to His followers. BUT their verdict of failure was ONLY an illusion! His death and resurrection raised Him into glory and broke sin's hold over us. (* Sin's actual worldly hold over us can be destroyed by our personal choice if we just obey the one-triune God by pledging ourselves to the Lord's requirement of sincerely asking Jesus to come into our heart. IF your pledge is genuine He will then give us the desire to follow Him).
Our struggles and apparent failures can raise us up to a new maturity in Christ which will sustain us and give us ministry to others. This is God's promise to us, and His promises NEVER fail! (Joshua 23:14)".
Carol Nazaretian.
"Now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved GENUINE" (1 Peter 1: 6-7).
* VIEW the associated post in this blog dated 27/11/2010 !!
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