Overcoming Failure
Matthew 17:1–23
They could not heal him. Matthew 17:16

There are always valleys. But as far as failures are concerned, although we will certainly also have those, we do not need to have as many as we do or experience them so often. Fortunately, Matthew 17 has provided pointers to the way we can overcome many of our failures.

1. Listen to Jesus. On the mountain in the excitement of the moment, Peter thought he had to say something, so he blurted out his idea about constructing three shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. God told him to be quiet and listen to Jesus. That is exactly what you and I need to do. There is a time to speak, but we must listen to Jesus first, because it is only as we do that we will be able to say anything worthwhile.

2. Take up the cross. We like the glory, but we are not nearly so enthusiastic about cross-bearing. Yet what Jesus told his disciples repeatedly is that there is no crown without a cross. John the Baptist had to suffer, Jesus had to suffer, and so do we. It is only through much self-denial that we can be Christ’s followers.

3. Know your weakness. We all have failures in our Christian lives, and one reason God allows so many of them is so we will learn that “apart from me [Jesus] you can do nothing,” as Jesus said (John 15:5). We should remember Peter. Peter had a high opinion of himself. When Jesus explained that the disciples would abandon him at the time of his arrest, Peter was sure he would not do so. “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away,” he said (Matt. 26:33). But he did. He even denied the Lord three times. Like us, Peter needed to learn how weak he was and that if he was to stand, it had to be by Jesus’s strength.

4. Keep your faith personal. The final lesson is that there can be no substitute for a personal faith in God, who is personal. Are the doctrines of the Bible important? Of course they are. We do not know who God is, how sinful we are, or what God has done to save us in Christ apart from God’s own revelation in Scripture. But knowledge alone saves no one. Christianity does not consist merely in collecting information. Is service important? Yes. The Bible says not only that we are ordained to salvation but also that we are ordained to good works (Eph. 2:10). We must do them. But the most important thing is that we get to know God, that we develop a personal relationship with him, and that we serve him because we love him.

Listen to Jesus. Take up your cross. Know your weaknesses. But above all, keep your faith personal. It is that relationship, more than anything else, that will keep you from these failures.

Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865

Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.