A meaningful life: Failure is not fatal
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. … Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (NKJV) John 14:1,6.
Why do you contend against him, saying, "He will answer none of man's words"? For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it (ESV) Job 33:13–14.
Just to be human is to deal with emotional and physical pain on a day-to-day basis. The problem of suffering or failure eclipse the worldview of humans. Professing Christians as well as critics of the faith often wonder and pose the questions:
• If there is God, why do we have so much suffering?
• If God is all-powerful, why doesn’t he end all the suffering?
• If God is all-loving, then He should prevent suffering.
The famous story of Job depicts the apparent dilemma of man and God’s answer to the existential problem of suffering. The patriarch Job accused God of judging him falsely (Job 9:20), wronging him (Job 19:6), persecuting him (Job 19:22), and ignoring all his good works (Job 31:1ff). The utterances of Job resonate in our thoughts today that sufferings are unwarranted if indeed God is for us. The young man among Job’s friends put them right by alluding that suffering can have a purpose - God can use it to judge the wicked, strengthen the faithful, aid the oppressed, and bless the righteous. He affirmed the sovereignty of God when he said a man needs not to contend against God for He speaks in His own way though man may not perceive it (Job 33:13).
Dear beloved how big is your failure or suffering? Consider the graceful end of Job’s story and remember that failure is not fatal (Job 2:11-12 cf 42:10). If you have backslidden, that should not be your end, rise! (Jeremiah 8:4-5). Christ has a way in every ‘hard time’ we experience (1 Cor. 10:13). Only by being faithful to God and abiding in His word can we know His truth and the truth will make us free (John 8:31-32).