Your Daily Devotional for October 17, 2006

 

October 17, 2006

 

 

Failure Is Not Final

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

“And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.  And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.”

 

Exodus 2:11-12

 

 

All of us, at some time in our lives, will feel as though we have failed. We will do something to disappoint God and feel as if God can’t use us anymore. When we do fail, our adversary, the devil, will often try to convince us that we have done irreparable damage. He will try to render us useless for God.

 

Moses was a man mightily used of God, but that usefulness did not come until God prepared Moses for the task. A part of his preparation was failure. One day, as Moses was living in Egypt, he walked outside to see an Egyptian taskmaster beating a Hebrew slave. This angered Moses, and he killed the Egyptian taskmaster. He murdered this man, then hid his body in the sand, thinking no one had seen him. He then ran away from his sin into the desert.

 

No one thinks of Moses as a murderer because God greatly used him in the history of Israel. Another who had been a failure but was greatly used of God was Abraham Lincoln. At age 22, he failed in business. At 23, he ran for legislature but failed. He again failed in business at 24. He was elected to legislature at age 25. His sweetheart died when he was 26. He had a nervous breakdown at age 27. He ran for Speaker of the House at age 29 and was defeated. He ran for elector and was defeated at age 31. He was defeated for Congress at 34. He then was elected to Congress when he was 37, but was defeated when he ran again at age 39. He ran for Senate and was defeated at age 46. At age 47, he ran for Vice President but was defeated. He once again ran for Senate but was again denied at age 49. Finally, he was elected President of the United States when he was 51. Imagine how different our country would be today had he given up.

 

God can use anyone! He used a murderer in Moses, a harlot in Rahab, an adulterer in David, a murderer in Paul, and Peter, who denied God and cursed Him! And we feel like quitting when we fail! Think of each of these people. Moses led nearly three million of God’s people into the Promised Land. Rahab hid God’s spies from being captured and killed in Jericho. David was called a man after God’s own heart. Paul was the greatest missionary of all time. Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost and thousands got saved. And the list goes on of people who failed but God still used!

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