Failure

Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. John 21:7

How do you cope with failure? Do you beat yourself up, get depressed or do you look at it and try to learn from your mistake?  I confess that I have been in both camps.  The 'beat yourself up and get depressed' camp is a miserable one for sure. It achieves absolutely nothing.....even worse, it has a negative effect on you and those around you.  However, if we can learn from our failures it can help us to go on to do better and even great things.

Here in John 21 we find Peter and 6 others just hanging out.  It's a time of transition between Jesus' crucifixion and his ascension to heaven.  Peter, the confident one, part of Jesus' inner circle, had experienced the most terrible failure of denying his friend,with oaths,  (Mark 14:71), only a few days before.  On that night he had left the scene weeping. in shame and agony. I'm guessing he found a hidey hole and beat himself up with recriminations...."How could I deny my Lord? I can't believe I could be so cowardly. What a whimp. I told him I would never deny him even if everyone else did, and I did just what I said I wouldn't. How can I ever face the others.  They didn't deny him. They'll reject me. He'll reject me.  What a useless wretch I turned out to be!"

We don't know if that's how it was for Peter, but we know that somehow he managed to push past his failure and get back into fellowship with the others because he was with them on the resurrection morning when the women came with the news that Jesus had risen from the dead.  The message they brought was "tell the disciples....and Peter, that Jesus is risen" (Mark 16:7).  God knew that Peter needed to know he was still part of the team.  All was not lost.  Peter had a choice; he could have remain mortified, ashamed and depressed and kept himself apart from the company of the others but he chose instead to get up and 'get back on the horse' as it were.

In John 21 Jesus is waiting for them on the beach after they had had an unfruitful night of fishing.  In a moment he calls out instructions and they haul in a huge catch.  When Peter realises it is the Lord, he didn't cower in a corner, he jumped overboard and headed to shore to greet his Saviour.  he obviously wasn't afraid of recriminations or judgment.  He ran quickly to a place of reconciliation and restoration.  He became the preacher at pentecost.  He preached with such an anointing of power and conviction that 3,000 people came to faith that day!  What an opportunity he would have missed if he had stayed in a place of failure and unrepentance. 

Don't let failure keep you down and depressed.  Confess, receive forgiveness AND forgive yourself.  That is often the most difficult thing to do; but we must do it if we are going to move on to better things.  Jesus still forgives and encourages us to go from strength to strength.  Only those who have known failure know how to encourage those who fail.  Let God redeem your failures for the benefit of others.

Prayer:  Jesus,  thank you for including Peter's failure and restoration in the scriptures for our encouragement.  Help me to remember to come quickly to seek your forgiveness when I fail, knowing that your death paid the price for my sin.  Amen