Three: Help for Those Who Feel like they have Failed God

Have you ever failed God? Have you ever promised to serve Him and then turned right around and fallen flat on your face? Perhaps you were in trouble and promised God something in desperation. "I'll serve you, Lord," you may have said. "I'll do whatever you want me to do." But when the moment of testing came, you failed the Lord. Perhaps you made your promise of allegiance when you were at a spiritual high in your life. You may have been excited about what God was doing in your life at that moment. Perhaps you had high expectations for the future.
Sometimes we get so excited about our walk with God that we forget that it is only by His grace that we can persevere. We start promising to do things that we cannot humanly fulfill. When the pressures of life come upon us, we come into temptation. When the opportunity to take our stand for Christ arrives, we often blow it altogether. There are very few Christians, if any, who have not failed God somewhere along life's journey. And always when we do fail, there is great temptation to give up. Satan loves to tell us how worthless we are and beat us down with guilt and defeat. But when all seems hopeless, God always reminds us that there is still hope.

The beautiful understanding about God is that of His love for us. Even when we "blow it" He will forgive and love us. The reason in this is that He desires that we NOT blow it. He is willing to work with us, mold us, shape us into all that He sees within. Now, in no way should we adopt an attitude of, "Well, I can sin and fail God, because I know He will forgive me." We have an area of "want to" make it that need to be looked at. Yes, He did say "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). But I do believe there is big differences between "willful" and "accidental" sinning. There is a big difference between walking into a situation, knowing, it is wrong, and stumbling on the path of life. Our God is so good, and so loving, He sees all, and knows all.

REASONS FOR FAILURE

The story of Peter's denial reveals several reasons why we fail in our walk with God. As we study these reasons, examine your own life. Ask yourself, "Am I failing in any of these same areas?" Let God examine your heart, your motives, and your actions. Remember, a few steps in the wrong direction can lead to disaster.

He Followed Afar Off.

The first reason for Peter's failure was his refusal to remain identified with Christ. After the betrayal and arrest, the Bible says, "And Peter followed afar off" (Luke 22:54). To be sure, Peter at least tried to follow the Lord to see what would happen next. But he made sure that he kept his distance. He didn't want to get too close to Jesus now because it might cost him something. So the question is, what price are you willing to pay, all or none?

It is impossible to successfully follow Christ at a safe distance. Either you are with Him or you are not. Ironically, millions of Americans claim to believe in Jesus Christ, but they do not want their Christianity to cost them anything. The problem is that we cannot follow Him at a distance without losing sight of who He is and what His claims are on our lives. You are either in with Him, or not at all. You cannot be casual, you have to be committed.

Jesus Himself put it this way, "No [man] can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other" (Luke 16:13). We cannot follow Jesus and the world at the same time. They are opposing forces pulling us in opposite directions. It is a human impossibility to live for Christ and live for the desires of the flesh. The two do not mix at all.

The Gallop Polls tell us that millions of Americans claim to have had an experience with Christ and that millions desire to know more about Him. But while He was here on this earth, Jesus said that if one wanted to be His disciple, he must deny himself. Christ said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me" (Luke 9:23). The word "deny" means to "disown" or "put to death" in the Greek text. In other words, the true follower of Christ does more than give intellectual assent to Him. The true Christian must be willing to crucify himself, his desires, and his plans and surrender himself to the will and purpose of God.

Those who want to follow Christ from afar today are those who give lip service to Him on Sunday but who follow the world the rest of the week. They claim to believe in Him, but they do not want that belief to cost them anything. They do not want any demands placed upon their lives. These are "Sunday morning Christians," and that is all! Some are only Christmas and Easter Christians and no more!

No wonder they are failing in their walk with God. No wonder there is no spiritual power in their life. No wonder their children do not respect their religious beliefs. No wonder why they are not growing spiritually either. You cannot win in the Christian life by keeping your commitment at a distance. Peter's first step toward failure was that he followed afar off. Peter tried, but Peter denied.

He Followed the Wrong Crowd.

When Peter arrived at the palace of the high priest, he entered the gate and went into the courtyard. The trial was taking place on the balcony of the palace, and everyone in the courtyard below had a clear view of the proceedings.

The Bible says, "And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall (the courtyard), and were set down together, Peter sat down among them" (Luke 22:55). In the parallel accounts in the other gospels, we read, "and Peter stood with them and warmed himself" (John 18:18), and that he later "sat with the servants, to see the end" (Matthew 26:58).

Peter's second great mistake was that he got in with the wrong crowd. These were not the fellow disciples who could encourage him to be faithful in his walk with God. These were the servants of the priests who were determined to put Jesus to death. Peter found himself mingling with those who had hated and despised Jesus, those who opposed everything he said he would stand up for. They were the keepers of the temple and the servants of the palace.

As incredible as it seems, Peter stood by the enemies' fire, warming his hands and then sat down among them as though he thought he could get lost in the crowd. Here was Christ's disciple sitting with the Christ-haters who were determined to destroy everything Peter had claimed to believe.

Whenever you think you can just blend into the crowd, you are seriously mistaken. Yet, many professing Christians are doing today what Peter did then. They are trying to be a part of the world without denying Christ. It didn't work then, and it won't work now. Peter was there hardly any time when people began to question whether or not he was one of Jesus' disciples. The reason Peter denied Him was that he had already put himself in a position of compromise which led to failure.

The old-timers used to have a saying: "Lay down with the dogs and you will get up with the fleas." How right they were! Growing up, my mother always had these one liners, that at the time, sounded goofy to me as a teenager. She said one time, "If you go jump into the toilet with the turds, you will become a turd also." Goofy as it sounds, true it really is! Any time we hang around with the wrong crowd, we are bound to start doing the wrong things. Remember Peter's initial boldness and confidence? He was the disciple who wasn't going to fail, but he did because he got in with the wrong crowd.

In our prison ministry outreach, we tell inmates that in order to survive and NOT come back into the system, they must NOT mingle with their "old buddies" once they get out. They must cut ties with old buddies and old aquaintances. The reason is, those are the very ones who will drag them back down, which will cause a repeat situation. Paul said, "For if I rebuild on that which was destroyed, I myself become (again) a transgressor" (Galatians 2:18). Mingling and hanging once again with the wrong crowd only will lead to a failure.

As Peter sat there with the servants, he could see Jesus being accused and condemned by those who had brought Him to the high priest. He could see them mocking Jesus, hitting Him, and spitting on Him. I am sure that a sense of panic must have gripped him as he watched this ordeal. There was no way he wanted to be identified with Christ in that setting, but it wasn't long until the servants began identifying him. They knew he was different. They even sensed that he didn't belong there because he wasn't one of them.

If you want to overcome failure, you will need to take a strong and clear stand for Christ. Let people know what you believe right up front. Stay away from those who would drag you down into defeat. A song I sing all the time says, "Don't let anybody drag your spirit down." Peter was strong, or so he thought, until he got in with the wrong crowd. Many who once thought they were strong, are now laid out on the roadside of life, lost and torn, beat and trashed out, simply because of this very thing.

Too many times have I known and seen those who come to the Lord, get on fire with God, but without any foundational building in their lives, go back and try and win their old buddies to Christ. The result, they slip and fall back into what they had come out of. Through observation of this, I have noticed that those who fall into this, each time will go deeper into what they came out of. Yes, there are those who will fall and then realize what happened, come back, get it on with the Lord again, only to go try again, without foundational building, only to repeat again the failure. This foundational building does not come instantly, it takes time to build on a sure and solid foundation. Then again, is an area of need of understanding, because of the easiness of failure, the reason of why "ties" must be cut, simply in order to survive and grow in Christ. It is a must!

He Failed to Obey God's Word

Peter ignored the warning of Jesus. He didn't fall into sin out of sheer ignorance. Jesus had warned him about his over-confidence at the last supper earlier that evening. "Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat," Jesus had warned Peter (Luke 22:31).
But it is evident that Peter never took Jesus' warning seriously. Perhaps you have been like that. You have heard the warnings of Scripture time and time again, but somehow you have thought they didn't apply to you. They have gone in one ear and out the other. If we won't listen to God, we cannot hope to succeed in our spiritual lives.

Peter ignored all that Jesus tried to tell him. He didn't even take any basic precautions. He walked right into the courtyard and sat down with the enemy! But it wasn't long until they began to question his relationship to Christ. You may try to hide your Christianity from others, but you will always stick out like a sore thumb. The real tragedy is that these servants asked Peter to identify himself and he couldn't do it. He not only failed Christ, but he also failed to be a witness to these servants.

The three denials came quickly, one upon the other. Before he ever realized what he was doing, Peter had denied his Lord three times in succession. Think of it! Here was Jesus' best disciple deliberately denying that he ever knew Him. No sooner had the words of denial had fallen from his lips than the rooster crowed and Peter's heart sank within him.

Have you ever fallen like that? In a moment of weakness or pressure, you virtually denied Christ in your life. Have you ever lied about your relationship with Him? Woah here, you say, "Listen, I would never lie about my relationship with Christ!" Let me ask this, have you ever tried to soften the "blow" of your Christianity to someone, because of fear that they may think you are like all them "stuck up" Christians, as they would see them? Have you ever tried to soft pedal your way around it, because you feel all that they see is those "hairdo's," those stuffy, staunch, religious fanatics? No, that isnt a relationship with Christ at all! But a real realtionship will stand up and say, "No, this is me, the way I am now, a believer in Christ! A lover of God! Changed and transformed by the hand of God! No, I am not the same guy you knew me as, I am born-again, blood bought, blood washed, by the Lamb of God! I am a Christian, and I have a relationship with Jesus!"

Have you ever given into temptation in a moment of weakness? Here is a booger area! You try to share Christ, but an area of temptation arises. You slip and fall, because you had no strength against that temptation. You walk away with guilt. You walk away, telling yourself, "Listen! You blew it sky high!" Have you ever failed in some area of your life and questioned whether God could ever use you again? If you have, then you know that sinking feeling. That feeling of denying your faith in Him.

Don't stop here, there is Good News! Restoration is still possible!

REQUIREMENTS FOR RESTORATION

The wonderful thing about God is that He never leaves us without hope. Even when we have failed Him, He will never fail us. When it seems the bottom has fallen out of your life, God's mighty hand will uphold you and bring you back. He just needs you to surrender to His Will.
Failure is never an easy process. It is humiliating and heartbreaking. It hurts both us and others. It is certainly not something to be desired, but when it happens, it need not be the end of all hope. Something can be rebuilt out of the rubble of life we have made.

There are four requirements for forgiveness and restoration given in the story of Peter's denial. They are all stated within two verses of Scripture where the Bible says, "And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly" (Luke 22:61-62).

1. He Realized Christ Was Watching.

The great turning point came in Peter's life when Jesus turned away from His accusers and looked at Peter, who had just denied Him for the third time. Twice Peter had insisted that he did not know Jesus, and he finally shouted out his third denial above the noise of the crowd. The rooster crowed, and when Peter looked up, Jesus was looking right at him.

As Peter looked into Jesus' eyes, his heart was broken. He could see the love, the hurt, and the disappointment of His Savior looking back at him. Peter broke because he realized he could not escape the Savior's gaze. The Bible reminds us that "the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth" (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Wherever you go and whatever you do, you can be sure that God is watching. He knows our deepest thoughts and our most hidden secrets. Those things that you can hide from others cannot be hidden from God. Every time you sneak into some questionable place or get involved in some questionable practice, God is there and sees what you are doing. You cannot escape Him.
There are three things about Jesus that will draw you to your knees, His nail-scarred hands, His nail-scarred feet, His eyes. All which are driven by the whole Heart of Love. A song I sing every now and then, says, "I see the Lord, and His eyes are flaming like fire..." It has been my experience, and the experience of many others, that in an encounter with Christ, there was something about His eyes. His eyes, seem to look down into the deepest part of me, He knew everything about me, even all my hidden agendas. That flame in His eyes, drew me to my knees in repentance. His love is completely overwhelming, but His love is so forgiving.

2. He Remembered Jesus' Words.

As soon as Peter realized Jesus was looking right at him, he remembered what He had said. Unfortunately, we often have to come to the end of the line or the bottom of the barrel before we remember God's warnings. There is just something about human nature that causes us to forget God's truth when all is going well. We start thinking that we can make it on our own.

When the bottom falls out of our lives, we usually realize that what God had said was true all along. Only then are we usually willing to face up to the truth. But let me remind you that every warning, every principle, every truth in Scripture is given to us for our own good. Each one of those truths was given by a God who loved us and cared about our deepest needs. Despite all our mistakes and failures, He remains a God of compassion who loves, forgives, and restores us to useful service to Him.

Are you glad that He doesn't give up on you? Even when we are "faithless" He is "faithful." You may say, "Well all I know is that when I knew I was in a questionale area, I walked away, hearing His Words, and knew I had blown it!" Actually, when you hear His Word, in that moment, please understand, He is speaking His Word, because He loves you, and wants to forgive, restore and strengthen you.

3. He Removed Himself from the Place of Temptation.

The Bible says that Peter "went out." It means exactly what it says. He left the comfort of the fire and the crowd of servants and went out into the night alone. As he did, he removed himself from the place of temptation and defeat. This is when we "remove" ourselves from our old buddies and aquaintances, again, it is a must in spiritual survival!
Some people make the mistake of thinking that they are strong enough to handle temptation. They go into places where they are vulnerable to sin. They let down their guard under the excuse that what they do is their own business. But what we do is God's business because we are His children.

If you really want to overcome temptation, you must be willing to remove the source of that temptation. I read a story many years ago about a man named Trochilus, a friend of Plato, the great philosopher. Trochilus loved the sea, and he loved to go sailing any time he could. But he loved it so much that he often took risks, and one day he nearly lost his life in a shipwreck. Later he vowed that he would never sail again.

When Trochilus returned home, he stood at his window looking out to the sea that had nearly taken his life. Then he called in a brick mason and had him wall in the window and brick it over so that he could not see the view. Then he explained to Plato that he had the window walled up because he was afraid that a morning would come when he might look out the window at the beautiful sea and be tempted to sail again. That's the kind of action that many of us need to take in dealing with temptation as well- to wall up the windows of our hearts!

When I came to know Jesus as Lord and Savior, I came out of a life of "rock and roll." I found that in order to grow in Christ, I had to "turn off" the music that I loved so much! I found that it had a strong hold on my walk and life. I found that it would draw me back into where I had come from. I recall one time that I had purchased a high powered FM antenna for my stereo. Because of my love for radio, I was able to tune in stations and listen that were miles away from me, this I enjoyed. I also found a station was playing full albums every night. In this, because of my antenna, I was getting some real nice copies of the albums they played. I was so engulfed in doing this that one day the Lord spoke to my ehart and said, "You are allowing that to steal your heart from Me." I found that I had to "turn off" the radio. I found that I had to do what I had once already done before, remove myself from the place of temptation. It wasn't so much the music, as it was the lifestyle that I had known in it. It was that lifestyle that was trying to draw me back to where I had come out of.

After about 12 years of pulling away from the music I had loved, was I able to build a stronger foundation spiritually. I often say, there is music during that time, I still today do not know, because I needed to break "ties." It was roughly 1995, that a chaplain at a prison unit, because he and I both had been in radio, challenged me to play a little at the music that I was once so involved in, but now use it as a tool of ministry. Thus, what has now become what we call, "Prison Rock." This is music that we all knew, music that shows where I came from, but a tool to show where I am now!

Recently, while on a prison weekend outreach, I had a prayer counselor come to me and ask, "So why the old secular music?" They didn't know about how I have been allowed to use this as a tool to draw hearts to Jesus. They shared they did not understand the reason. I simply replied,"Well it is where I came from. But I only do that to stir the hearts of the people, then I am able to then show them where I am now." I am transformed in Christ! But I also know too, that I needed those years to build a foundation to where I no longer need that lifestyle, I know and have the best lifestyle one can have, His Name is Jesus! The real music that rules in me, is the Worship of Jesus Christ! I no longer am in rock-n-roll, but I am founded on the Rock and my name is on the Roll!

4. He Came to Genuine Repentance.

Peter was so broken by the sin he had committed, that he rushed out and "wept bitterly." His tears were tears of repentance. They were evidence of a godly sorrow and a broken spirit. His pride was shattered, and in remorse he wept over the wrong he had done.

Tears alone are not necessarily proof of repentance. One might cry and never change. In Peter's case, his tears were evidence of a true heart that was broken, and his changed life became a testimony to all who knew him. In fact, when most of us think of Peter, we think of his great exploits, not his great failure.

His life stands as a ray of hope to everyone who has ever failed God. Here was a man who had failed in the worst way possible. He violently denied that he ever knew Christ. Yet, afterwards he was forgiven and restored to service by the Lord Himself (see John 21). In this passage of Scripture is found the three questions that restored and transformed this man: "Do You Love Me?"

On the Day of Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2, Peter, the apostle who had once denied Christ, stood and boldly spoke of his faith in the risen Christ. Time and time again, he risked his life to preach the gospel and thousands were converted under his preaching.
If you have failed the Lord, there is still hope for you. Though your heart may be broken and your spirit crushed, God can mend your broken heart, revive your spirit, and renew your service. The key to restoration is repentance. Turn away from your sin, and turn to Christ.