Beautiful Failure

I have had many times in my life where a mountain of trials that I came upon seemed insurmountable; just too steep to climb. I knew that I could only stand at the base of the mountain for so long before I had to start climbing. Every time I scaled an elevation and was close to reaching the top, I would fall down, backsliding back into the unstable and sinful things of the world. Who else can relate to this? The problem I had when trying to get through these trials is that I kept trying to use my own strength to conquer the peak, but I never could. I was trying to do it on my own and was drowning in the constant deficiencies and sin that I was ensnared in. I was finally able to overcome when I understood that I had to let Jesus put me over His shoulder and carry me to the summit. I was taking into account the Grace that saved me, but I was not letting that same Grace lead me.

Listen, for anyone in this world to have a life that God intended for them, then the beauty of Christ has to come and overtake the failure of fallen man. 1 John 2:6: “Whoever says he abides in Christ ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.” I was trudging up those mountains as Doug Gorman instead of trying to subdue it in the example and name of Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus, I now know that any highlands can be taken because the salvation Jesus gave is ours and we are made conquerors by His name. But to be these conquerors, we have to fully understand that the beauty is not us, but it is our Savior. Jesus will tear down the house of sin that we have built up, but when He knocks we have to let Him in.

I had to see that I was a beautiful failure. I still am. As are all true believers. As we will be until our Savior comes to take us to be with Him and gives us our new glorified bodies in heaven. We are made eternally beautiful by the wondrous grace of Jesus Christ; but while in the flesh we are still wretched, destitute and vile. Psalm73:26: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Being made a new creation, the failures of our flesh stay with us to be the motivation to push us to be more and more like Christ every day.

There is no shame for us in Jesus; only victory. So we should give Him His due honor by emulating Him. 1 Peter 1:16: because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” Strive to be Christ-like in every aspect of your life. Brothers and sisters, I know that the catastrophe which is our flesh will always miss the mark, but the beautiful that is Jesus Christ will never waver. Hebrews 4:16 : “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Our problem is that we cannot see the beauty that we have become in Christ because we cannot remove the veil of deception that covers our faces. The Holy Spirit will eliminate that veil when we pray, repent of our sins, stay in God’s Word and long to be in fellowship with Him. Remember, the love of Christ can cradle the most fragile person, slowly removing the stains and scars of old wounds. His renewal is brought forth so that we can love ourselves as He loves us.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7: 4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” We are told to love this way because God loves us in this manner – unconditionally. We go through life thinking we deserve what we already have. Jesus took for us what we deserve and now we have the gift of God’s love - forever. Colossians 3:3: “For you (your old self) died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Jesus Christ, the most beautiful man, the most beautiful human being, the most beautiful God that our human eyes have yet to see; He absolutely adores us, even though we will still fail. Do you not know that our faith in Him has made us so beautiful that we are the envy of all creation? We are wrapped in Him now, tomorrow and for eternity. 1 Peter 5:6-7: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your cares on Him, because He cares for you.” We can only traverse this life through the benevolent heart of God. Without taking the narrow path through the center of the heart of Christ, we can only barrel down the wide path grasping nothing but pain, destruction and death.