Success and Failure Blog

When I was backslidden I rolled a car at close to a hundred miles an hour. I was dead drunk at the time, after trying to drown my sorrow over a lost job and a girlfriend who ditched me. Guess who I blamed for my troubles… God. Backsliders have a tendency to blame others for their problems, and God makes an easy target. I do believe that there are instances where God directly disciplines a backslider, but I also believe that many or most of our problems are caused by ourselves, or by the fact that we live in a world warped and twisted by sin that we can’t cope with. That’s because God isn’t in the business of driving Christians away from Himself. Instead, even in the process of discipline, He reaches out to us with His love, trying to draw us to Himself. I know He drove Adam and Eve away from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24), but even then He was laying the groundwork for drawing us back. In fact, Adam and Eve had been told the consequences of their sin, and they did it anyway. They made the choice. They had no one to blame but themselves. When they sinned, they brought death to the world, and a whole bunch of other consequences that hung on death’s coattails in order to get through the door — sickness, disease, famine, murder, thefts, addictions, etcetera, etcetera, ad infinitum. Death is almost infinitely creative in the ways of destruction.

But God didn’t make the choices that caused us to move away from Him. We made them. Maybe we prayed about them, but did we follow the plan of the Bible for decision-making? Probably not, and certainly not completely. Did we use the biblical formula of prayer, looking for answers in the Word, seeking godly counsel? More than that, were we willing to pray, “Not my will but yours, Lord,” when it came to the things we wanted with all our hearts? Or did we just blunder into our mistakes, stumbling around in the darkness? But we blamed God anyway, didn’t we? We allowed our mistakes and circumstances to drive us away from Him. In the process we became angry hypocrites.

If you’re in that condition, He wants you back, and He’s willing to remove all that hypocrisy from you. He said, “In a flood of anger, I hid My face from you momentarily, but with everlasting mercy I will have mercy on you…” (Isaiah 54:8). If you feel miserable because of the mess you’ve gotten yourself into, that’s Him. He’s drawing you back. He said, “…I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I drew you with mercy” (Jeremiah 31:3). Don’t give up on Him, because He hasn’t given up on you.

James told us, “Approach God and He will approach you,” (James 4:8) while Hebrews asserts: “…He rewards those who seek Him,” (Hebrews 11:6). But we can’t come to Him in pride. We can’t come, saying, “All right, I’ll try your way now, even though you were the One who caused my problems.” We have to realize that we made our own mistakes, and wrongly blamed Him for them. And when we had problems that we didn’t cause, that doesn’t mean He caused them, either.

Have you believed our God is unjust and that He caused your problems? If so, you don’t understand His love for you. He is Almighty, Everlasting, All-knowing God, who knew every one of your thoughts and actions long before you were born (Psalm 139:1-4). Nothing was hidden from Him. In fact, He didn’t create our universe until He knew how every atom would move, and where it would move. From the day you were conceived till the day you die, everything you think, say or do are in His mind. He knew how you were going to live your life long before you were born, and He still loves you. He’s still willing to take you back. The psalmist wrote: “Where can I go to escape from Your Spirit? Or where can I run away from your Presence? If I go up to Heaven, You’re there. If I lie down to sleep in Hell, look, You’re there, too” (Psalm 139:8, my paraphrase).

If you are a miserable Christian, now’s the time to begin turning to the one who can make you joyful again. Now’s the time to see Him for who He is, not who we’ve made Him out to be. Get in the Word of God and begin to restore your faith. Pray for renewal and ask God to remove any barriers in your life that are keeping you from Him, regardless of the cost. Ask for repentance – again. He’s waiting for you to open your eyes.

In the midst of a forgettable season, the Buffalo Bills almost beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. Their receiver, Steve Johnson, dropped an almost sure touchdown pass and blamed God for it. It was apparently done via Twitter. This brings to mind an interesting discussion I had with a youth – he plays football and 1-2 other sports, if I recall – a year or so ago. It’s a discussion that touches on this receiver’s comment and a number of other things.

Because Americans have so many things, there is a temptation to expect that we will always be successful. In fact, the old “Protestant work ethic” tended to cause some to think that if one has material success, one is being blessed by God. And, that failure means that God’s blessings have been removed.

However, this is an absolute lie. God does not promise us material blessings. In fact, He says numerous times that these should not be our focus. Our focus should be on building treasures in Heaven, where – unlike material things – moth and rust can’t eat away at it, and it can’t be stolen. (Matthew 19:21) Material things are of this world, and not of God. We are told, “love not the world nor the things in the world.” Worldly things will pass away, but God’s love and the important things will be forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

Sure, we need things like food, clothing, yes, even money. But, Jesus says of necessities, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33) He gives us all we need when we need it.

This brings us to my discussion with this youth. I’d brought up how players sometimes credit God when they win a title.

We then discussed how God might will someone to fail to teach them something. It might be humility, perhaps, as “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18) He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5) However, it’s not always because the person is sinning. He might allow a loss to teach compassion, so a person can learn how others feel who maybe can’t achieve as much. It might be because someone else needed the win more, or for a myriad of other reasons that we can’t comprehend, as mere mortals.

However, having never played a team sport except for Beeper Baseball, I was curious about whether a team would really want to hear a player wax philosophical like that after a loss. He replied – and I agreed – that one’s teammates, having just played their hearts out, would probably not want to hear it.

His comment makes sense. It wouldn’t be good for morale, for one thing – a team is supposed to function as a unit, with everyone trying their hardest for the team. It wouldn’t be meant to imply that the player “gave up,” but it could be taken that way, especially in the heat of the moment. Not only that, but it might bring about a negative attitude when the next game comes. Perhaps the team won’t feel as confident about success, or won’t try as hard, feeling it’s “just not meant to be” from the start.

Far better is for a player to show his or her Christianity by being sportsmanlike in a loss. Crediting the other team and gracefully accepting others’ mistakes – especially admitting their own failures, make one a leader, someone about whom their teammates will say, “I know he’s got my back, and he’s willing to accept responsibility.”

Yes, theologically we can say with certainty that God doesn’t always mean for us to win a game. That pebble that causes a ball to take a bad hop was allowed by God to be there for a reason, as they have been for years. However, to “blame” God for it is to make two big errors.

One error is expecting that victory was somehow deserved. Yes, athletes, in the heat of battle, do expect this. Athletics is a field that requires great effort to avoid becoming incredibly prideful. On one level, a team player should feel they should win. The Apostle Paul, who uses comparisons with athletics himself, says that we should be like those who strive for mastery, but that we do it to obtain an incorruptible crown. (1 Cor. 9:25-27)

However, to think that victory is always foreordained is to ignore the bigger picture. God’s ways are higher than our ways, as the heavens are higher than the earth. (Isaiah 55:9) This means that things from a championship all the way down to a catch are never certain. Trying one’s hardest the entire game – as Johnson did – is all that one can do. To expect that one “has to win” is to risk becoming not only prideful, but bitter in one’s attitude. Instead of focusing on those things we don’t have, we need to always have an attitude of thankfulness for what we do have.

In fact, in the long run, by keeping that attitude of thankfulness, and not focusing on the negative “we should have won” thoughts, an athlete will perform *better*. Why? Instead of playing the blame game, instead of thinking about the past, they will look forward to the next game. Paul was inspired by God to write about how he put behind things which were past, and reached toward things which wre in front of him. (Philippians 3:13)

What is that second error? It goes back to humility. One can easily say, “Well, God didn’t mean for it to happen.” But, unless one learns from the mistake, that player is never going to get any better. It goes back to coachability – coaches want players who are willing to learn, and so does God. This is why He emphasizes numerous times in the Bible about being humble. Even if there was a time where it was right for a player to say, “God didn’t mean for this to happen” in a postgame press conference, by not taking any blame himself, such a player is showing false pride.

Now, if that player wants to say something like, “God taught me a lesson,” and adds something like, “I let my teammates down, and I let God down, because my teammates are relying on me, and God put me in the position where I could do something great,” that would be excellent. It would be humble, and it would be glorifying God. Such a comment by an athlete would own up to the responsibility God gives, to use his or her physical talent to the best of their ability.

There is never a reason to blame God, however. Blaming God is as old as the Garden of Eden, and it means we fail to live up to our responsibility. It magnifies us when we should be glorifying God and accepting if we mess up at something.

We wont’ be ble to use the excuse that we follow the “health and wealth” preachers, either. We have God’s Word, the Bible, and in it, He doesn’t promise us material things. He promises us riches that we can build in Heaven instead. There are many reasons why we might fail at something – be it a business, a catch, or whatever.

And, not all of them have to do with us failing God. In fact, many times, it has nothing to do with our sinful nature. It merely has to do with God having something which is better in the long run for us.

You see, we’ve all sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) God doesn’t reward us with material riches. Instead, he gives we who are so underserving eternal life in His perfect heaven. He does so freely. He doesn’t require us to do anything but come to Him and confess that we are sinners in need of the Savior, and then call on Him to save us through His finished work on the cross.

We don’t deserve God’s perfect heaven because of our sin. We deserve ternal punishment for our sin, but God has graciously allowed us to be saved. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23) Christ took our punishment for us while we were yet sinners. (Romans 5:8) And, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10:13)

Once we are saved, sometimes we win, and sometimes we lose. However, in the grand scheme of things, what happens here on earth isn’t as important as how we get through it. Because, we have the most important promise – Jesus will be with us always, even until the end of the world. (Matthew 28:20) In this world we will have tribulation, but we can be of good cheer, because Jesus overcame the world. (John 16:33)

I get this question all the time, especially when disasters happen like Hurricane Katrina or someone we love gets seriously ill… or worse…if someone dies. “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

When troubling things do happen, what exactly does this mean?  Does it prove that God does not exist? If He does exist – doesn’t God care? Does He enjoy seeing us suffer?  Of course none of these things are true.
See Answers to tough questions.

First of all, the Bible does not promise that we will be without challenges.  As a matter of fact, it says the opposite.  The Bible tells us that we will have trouble in this life.  God never meant for our lives to be this way.  Death, sickness and calamity are a direct result of the fall of man…and sin has had a devastating effect.  Am I saying all this death and disease and sickness is because Adam and Eve sinned?  That is what the Bible tells us.  There was no sickness in the Garden of Eden.  This will be the life the redeemed will have again in heaven.  God’s Word says…”And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.  There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Rev 21:4 (NKJV).  Our sins have enormous consequences.  Maybe you have been dealing with the affects of the sins of your parents for your entire life?  Multiply that by a trillion sins…compounded over thousands of years.  May God have mercy on us.

Sometimes God uses the bad situations in our lives to turn them into a blessing…”And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NKJV).  A good example would be the story of Joseph in Genesis 37 – 50, where he is put into a position to save millions of people from starvation.  If he would not have been sold into slavery, it would not have happened and millions of people would have died.

Many times God gets the blame for our own mistakes.  We smoke all our lives and when we get lung cancer, we tend to blame God. Everything we do in life has consequences.  The good things we do have good consequences and the bad have bad consequences. Yes, through prayer, God in His mercy will sometimes reverse the damage we’ve done to ourselves.  “Whatever we ask in the Name of Jesus will be done by the Father in heaven.” Matt. 18:19. Also, read John 14:13-14

None are good. The Bible is clear that all humans are deeply affected by sin.  “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands;  There is none who seeks after God.  They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”  “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”; “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”  “Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known.”  “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”  Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.  Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Romans 3:9-20 (NKJV)

God’s Righteousness Through Faith…see Romans 3:20-31 (NKJV)

Something else to consider. After Hurricane Katrina happen, Billy Graham’s daughter was interviewed on The Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her ‘How could God let something like this happen?…Anne Graham gave an amazingly profound and insightful response. She said, “I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives…and being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”

Do you call God only when you are in trouble or need help?  How can you expect God to answer your prayers if we don’t have a relationship wit Him, except when we’re in trouble?

Finally, God is more interested in character building than he is in just seeing us enjoying a worldly life.  Sometimes He answers our prayers like below.

MOST RICHLY BLESSED (by unknown civil war veteran)
I asked God for strength…that I might achieve; I was made weak…that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for help…that I might do great things; I was given infirmity…that I might do better things.
I asked for riches…that I might be happy; I was given poverty…that I might be wise.
I asked for all things…that I might enjoy life; I was given life; …that I might enjoy all things.
I was given nothing I asked for, but everything I had hoped for. Despite myself, my prayers were answered. I am among all men most richly blessed.

God loves you and me. He hates to see us in pain or trouble.  And one day we will no longer have to face these struggles and hardships. Meanwhile, He is waiting for us to ask Him for help to have a relationship with Him in the here and now.  We are designed to have relationship with Him. You might have everything…money, power, health and more, however, until you fill that part (a relationship with Jesus) of your life, you will always feel unfulfilled. I’ve been there…I know.  I’ve had it all, only to find out that the things that we think will make us happy do not deliver happiness.  Only Jesus can fill that void…period.

Find out how to have true relationship with Jesus…Success in this life and the next.

Also check out the following links:
Wisdom for Living – Online Bible Study Tools – Can you earn your way to heaven? – Got Questions.org -