Overcoming Failure

"Can He still feel the nails everytime I fail?"

What an interesting question. Does our failure drive the nails further in his hands? Does He turn away everytime we turn away from Him? Does He give up on us when its obvious we have given up on him?
Failure is the "state or condition of not meeting a desirable objective or task".

Peter found himself on a fishing boat in the Galilean sea, "But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary" (matt. 14:24). Galilee was a small and moody lake, 13 miles at its longest and 7 1/2 miles at its widest creating a vulenerability to the winds. Winter months being such storms every two weeks or so, churning the waters for two to three days at a time.
Peter and his fellow storm riders knew they were in trouble. Rain fell from the night sky in buckets, while lightining lit up the sky like fireworks on the 4th of July. They were left "in the middle of the sea, tossed by waves." Perhaps all we need to do is subsititute a couple of nouns to describe our own life:

In the middle of divorce, tossed by guilt
In the middle of debt, tossed about by creditors
In the middle of a recession, tossed about by stimulus packages and bailouts.

They spotted something coming out of the water. "'A ghost!' they said, crying out in terror" (v. 26). They had no idea Jesus would come to them this way. Neither do we. We expect to come in peace, in hymns, on Easter Sundays or quiet retreats. But it is in storms that he does his finest work, for it is in storms the he has our keenest attention. "Don't be afraid', he said. 'Take courage for I am here'" (v.27).

We cannot go where God is not. Love over your shoulder; that's God following you. Look into the storm; that's Christ coming toward you. Often time in our weakest moments we lose our focus, there fore leading to our failures in life.

Peter then challenges Jesus. "Lord, if it is you, commmand me to come to You on the water.' So he said, 'Come'. and when Petere had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus" (Matt. 14:28-29). What would happen next is where we often find the origin for people who use the phrases "keep your eyes on the prize", "keep your eyes on Jesus", etc.

For a few historic steps, Peter did what was thought to be impossible. He defied gravity; "he walked on the water to go to Jesus." "But when he (peter) saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, 'Lord, save me!'" Peter shifted his attention from Jesus and towards the storm, and when he did, he sank like a brick in a pond. "Give the storm waters more attention than the Storm Walker, and get ready to do the same."

Whether or not storms come, we cannot chose. But where we stare during the storm, that we can. It's like when you walk into a doctor's office and notices all his degrees, it is then we realize that we are in good hands. His call to courage is not a call to ignorance. We aren't to be oblivious to overwhelming challenges that life brings. We're to counterbalance them with long looks at God's accomplishments. "We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift awy from it" (Heb. 2:1). Do what it takes to keep your gaze on Jesus.

Ponder the testimonies of faithful Christians. Memorize scripture. Make a decision to set your hope on Him. Courage is ALWAYS a possibility.
C.S. Lewis once wrote:

"Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted,
in spite of your changing moods. For moods will change,
whatever view your reason takes. I know that by experience.
Now that I am a Christian I do have moods in which the whole thing looks
very improbable: but when I was an atheist I had moods in which
Christianity looked terribly probable. That is why Faith is such a necessary
virtue: unless you teach your moods "where they get off," you can never be
either a sound Christian or even a sound atheist, but just a creature dithering
to and for, with its beliefs really dependent on the weather and the state of its digestion"

Feed your fears, and your faith will starve.
Feed your Faith and your fears will.

Futhermore if you take your eyes off of the one who can truly help us be successful, we will sink just as Peter did. Cry out to Jesus, Abba Father, and he will lead you in the ways in which you should go.

God has hung his diplomas in the universe. Rainbows, sunsets, horizons, and star filled skies. His accomplishments are found in scriptures. His lesson is clear. He is the commander and pilot in every storm. Are you scared in yours? Stare at Him! Your Pilot has a call sign: I am here!

No Faith = Failure
Faith= Overcoming Challenges and Failure