Everybody fails sometimes. Some of you may be too young to remember my epic failure. It happened in 1982 and for more than 20 years I allowed it to define who I was. I still have a skinny folder that contains a bright gold campaign brochure, some newspaper clippings, and a photo of a young mother I hardly recognize. In a last minute attempt to have a Democrat on the ballot, I gathered enough signatures to run for Marshall County Supervisor as a 26-year-old woman candidate in a highly Republican, conservative county in rural Iowa.
The votes were stacked against me: Democrat, woman, inexperienced, yet I was all-in for six months of busy campaigning. I worked hard to overcome my shyness and develop a platform that I'm still proud of. I was all in. But once the votes were in, I lost. I was a loser. I failed. I was broken and became depressed beyond consoling. I had put my complete self-esteem on the ballot and I was rejected. I didn't know how to get past the loss. I allowed it to control my world and my whole being. Over and over in my head I repeated the negatives, and anything positive was buried so deeply that I couldn't remember it at all.
Yet, God was there and eventually His light shone through the darkness and His love became my life rope to cling to. If only I could have heard God's version of the story and how He would always be with me. If only I could have felt His great love for a child whom He had a future for. If only I had known that God's plan wouldn't end with this little loss, my life was just beginning.
The great Christian writer Oswald Chambers said in "My Utmost For His Highest",
"Never let the sense of past failure defeat your next step".
Joshua faced the failure of his sinful son, Achan, but God encouraged him to refocus and move on. "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged" (Joshua 8:1 NIV). Be strengthened by your mistakes, confess your sins and move on! You only lose if you give up. Get up, focus on Jesus, deal with the problem, and move forward.
"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14 NIV).
Whatever you may be facing at this moment in time, repeat the hope that is in Jesus Christ over and over in your mind. Let our goal be set on knowing Christ. We are forgiven for our past, put it behind and move ahead.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).
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