The First Step to Proper Recovery from Failure
Rachel Taylor is the founder of Mama Did It™, a brand focused on helping women work through the process of motherhood while learning to enjoy their journey. She is a pastor’s wife, mom to three young children, author, and childbirth educator.
“Peter burst into tears, ran off from the crowd, and wept bitterly.” Luke 22:62 (TPT)
What a horrible night Peter experienced. He became someone he swore he would never become. Hours earlier, he had vowed to die with His Lord. His devotion felt unwavering. “I will never betray,” I’m sure he muttered to himself.
A different disciple was also unlikely to betray. After all, he had spent three years with His Lord. Yet, Judas betrayed that night as well. He accepted money in exchange for betraying Jesus to death.
Peter and Judas. Both became someone I’m sure they never believed they would be. Both betrayed the Savior of the world. Not just their Savior but their friend. Both were filled with remorse and sorrow when they realized what they had done.
So, why was their outcome so different?
We each find ourselves at this place in life. Maybe we haven’t gone as far as to renounce Him with our mouths or exchange Jesus for cheap money, but we’ve done it in other ways.
We’ve failed, and we’ve sinned. Ugly words have come from our mouths, and we’ve betrayed relationships. We’ve held onto unforgiveness and bitterness when we received full atonement from our Lord. We have crawled through regrets and sins. We’ve become people we didn’t recognize.
We have been Peter and Judas.
And yet, Peter was fully restored to His Lord. Judas chose suicide.
But, what if Judas had chosen repentance? What if instead of taking his life into his own hands, he had run to Jesus as Peter did? What if he had humbled himself and repented?
You. Me. Them. Every one of us has chosen our way at times. The Bible is quite clear about that. Yet, there is a path less traveled available for those willing to humble themselves and return to Jesus. Our failures won’t change, but our outcomes will.
It’s not too late for us. As long as we have breath, God can make it beautiful. Divorce, betrayal, regret, loss, abandonment; all of it can be made beautiful.
When Peter reencountered Jesus, He jumped out of his boat and swam to get to Him. The waves didn’t stop him. His failures didn’t stop him. With all of his might, he went after Jesus. He had wronged Jesus, and he knew he couldn’t leave it the way it was.
And Jesus received him. “Try again, Peter. I believe in you,” was His message. It’s still His message.
May we always choose the way of Peter by taking the first step to proper recovery from failure in humbling ourselves before our God, offering Him our bitter tears, and letting Him restore us. May we reject the way of Judas, who took his failures into his own hands instead of putting them into his Lord’s.
May we choose the humble path less traveled and watch God transform our failures, step by step, into a beautiful journey of his redemption.
