Failure can be an unpleasant experience, but also a learning experience. Failure can be humbling and can lead us to be more teachable. Sometimes, we won’t listen to anyone because we are puffed up with pride and think we know better. When failure comes, we begin to realize we were wrong. Maybe you are like me and have gone through a humbling failure process where the Lord got your attention. Maybe you are in the midst of that now. But remember, during failure there is always hope in Jesus.
In our story, the teachers of the religious law and the Pharisees saw themselves as holy and righteous. They wanted to trap Jesus so they could get rid of Him. Jesus used their trap to reveal their hearts. Through this they became aware of their own failures, their own sin.
John 8:4As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. 4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” 6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. 9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.[1]
Let Jesus use your failure to develop humility. Jesus is like a great sculptor who uses the chisel of failure to transform us. Christ cares about our successes as well as our failures. It is during my times of failure that I lean less on my understanding and more on God. My failures force me to examine my level of trust in God, where true hope can be found.
When I fail, I realize my need for complete dependence on Christ even though our culture tells us to only depend on ourselves. While independence in some areas of my life is commendable, complete dependence on God with everything, including my failures, requires that I trust Him. The first step in repentance is seeing my own sin and confessing it to the Lord. When I do, I go from hopelessness to hope.
God does not waste anything and can use my failures to mold and turn me toward Him.
Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. [2]
To hear more about the woman caught in adultery, listen here: https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/hope-in-my-sin
[1,2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.