Bible Text: Numbers 26:10 | Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire devoured the 250 men. And they served as a warning sign. Numbers 26:10
“It is always too soon to quit,” says George Sweeting. In his years as President of Moody Bible Institute, Dr. Sweeting saw hundred of students who came to the campus named after the evangelist Dwight L. Moody more than a century ago, filled with grit and determination, but rebuffed by failure, decided to give up and try something easier.
The reality is that practically nobody succeeds without rebuff, without failure, without a measure of discouragement. A study of those whose biographies are written in the pages of Scripture is a study of human failure.
Starting with our first family, there was failure. Adam was the father of a murderer. Moses, who eventually led the children of Israel out of Egypt, also had blood on his hands, taking the life of an Egyptian who hassled one of the Jews. Even leading the children of Israel in the wilderness, Moses, wearied by the heavy burden of leadership, displeased God by smiting the rock at Kedesh in the Wilderness of Zin, instead of speaking to it, or commanding it to give forth water as God had instructed.
Jonah, of course, put his back to God and went the opposite direction—too weary, too repulsed by the prejudice that made him want to call down fire on Nineveh instead of pronouncing God’s grace. He failed miserably before he decided to do it God’s way, and even then, he had trouble with his attitude.
Peter, of course, denied Christ three times in the courtyard of the High Priest Peter, the one who only hours before had said, “Lord, I’ll never deny you; I’m ready to go to my death with you”–a commitment quickly forgotten in the moment of pressure and confrontation. Yes, God used Peter, and there is so much to admire about this brawny, spit-out-the-truth fisherman, yet some 20 or more years after the Day of Pentecost when Peter was the preacher, Paul said he had to confront him to the face because he was to be blamed. For what? No, not for a moral lapse or a lack of integrity, but a lack of consistency. When there were no Jews around, Peter broke bread with Gentiles; but when the Jews came around, there was no way Peter would have a meal with his Gentile brothers.
John Mark, traveling with Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey got homesick, gave up and quit. But stubbing his toe spiritually–giving in to his homesickness–didn’t destroy him. He overcame, and eventually wrote the second Gospel, the one that bears his name.
So what’s the bottom line of all of this? God is the God of the second chance, the one who does forgive, the God “who remembers our frame, that we are dust” as the psalmist put it.
So you have stubbed your toe and fallen. Have you? Get up, ask God for forgiveness, and realize the God of the second chance, and the third chance, and the next chance will give you strength and help. Failure doesn’t have to be fatal.
A final thought. There are some failures which take you out of the game. At times your lapse disqualifies you to finish the race, and that’s what you have to avoid. You read about a trio called Korah, Dathan, and Abiram who challenged God, and the earth opened up and swallowed them. Then, of course, a couple by the name of Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit and God struck them dead (Acts 5). There were others too, ones who so hardened their hearts they no longer heard God’s voice saying, “You missed the path.” But if your heart is grieved by your failure, you’re not out of the game. Learn from your mistake. Get up and start moving in the right direction. It’s too soon to quit. George Sweeting is right.
Resource reading: Acts 5:1-11
