It stands to reason, figuratively speaking, that when Christians slip and sin, some feel compelled to crawl into a hole-of-defeat and say to themselves, “I can’t do it.” In their thinking they believe that God must be disappointed with them for their disobedience and will cast them aside, because of it.
Rather than asking forgiveness immediately, some individuals wallow in self-condemnation, thinking, “What’s the use.” They hide from God just as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden after they disobeyed God’s command to not eat of the fruit produced by the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
The word “reason” in the above, first sentence is subjective. When a person tries to reason why they sin or make excuses for sinning as Adam did in Genesis 3:12, and Eve in Genesis 3:13, it is possible for them to fall deeper into a state of complacency and compromise.
Over thinking the sin and trying to hide from God, while listening to the wrong voice lie to them, allows deception to take root from Satan who is the father of lies. They then suppose their sin has separated them even farther from God’s presence.
Some people envision God to be an ogre who is ready to disown them at the drop of a hat, or that He is waiting to pronounce judgment, because of their failure to obey His commandments—a merciless God of rules and regulations. I believe this to be far from the truth. They have not yet grasped the true meaning of grace and mercy, and that God forgives sin when we ask Him to do so.
I am not sure why this concept of God exists, though I had this mindset as a sinner going my own willful way. Now, as a Christian, I am learning each day just how much God really loves and cares about me, personally. I wasted many years being too proud and fearful to share my problems with God lest He require or demand something from me. I kept Him at arm length.
I don’t regret a mile I’ve traveled with the Lord since my conversion. He has given me peace and a hope that I never had before. God keeps me safe and secure from all alarm much like a mother hen protects her little chicks under her wing.
God is not a vindictive, unreasonable Father; on the contrary, God is love in every sense of the word. As a foolish, young man I didn’t understand nor did I grasp the depth of His love until I became a Believer. Such joy and happiness He brought!
God does not want any of His creation to struggle and miss out on the abundant life that He provided through His Son Jesus. The fact of the matter is this: Jesus willingly gave his life on the cross for our sins so that we could be free from the condemnation of sin and have the hope of eternal life with Him in heaven.
(2 Peter 3:9), “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
In that God gave His only begotten Son to die for you and me to save us from the bondage of sin, why then would He repel or discard us like unwanted refuse if we fall into temptation? When we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of our life, we become sons and daughters of Almighty God and joint-heirs with Jesus. Heaven and all it has to offer is ours. We need not fear separation from God as children of God.
(2 Timothy 1:12), “… for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”
(Romans 8:38-39), “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,” Vs.39 “nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
If you have children, when was the last time you completely disowned and turned your back on your child when he or she failed to measure up to your expectations? I think this would be a very unusual situation, because a parent’s love runs deep. But God’s love runs even deeper; an infinite, immeasurable amount of love that supersedes the love we have for our own children.
(Mathew 7:9-11), “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” Vs.10 “Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?” Vs.11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
So “reason” does not enter into the picture when referring to whether or not God walks away from us when we fall on our face, because we sinned. God is there to pick us up, dust us off, and exclaim, “You will do better next time!”
The Holy Spirit teaches us to lean on Him for strength and not give up. We will learn by our mistakes not to do them anymore. And if we fail again in the same area as before, God imparts mercy, while grace becomes reality rather than defeat and separation claiming another soul. God’s great love enables us to succeed and rise above the temptation to sin.
My grandson’s little-league coach has a wonderful way of interacting with each player on the team. He reminds me of how God encourages me to keep on keeping on when I have fallen short of the mark and want to hide from Him and give up.
When one of the boys strikes out and feels deflated; telling himself, “I can’t do it.” the coach is always there with words of encouragement to lift his spirits rather than words of harshness. When a fielding error takes place and a player throws the ball to the wrong base, or fumbles a grounder that is hit to him, the coach, without fail, shouts, “You will do better next time. Trust me!”
God does exactly that. He says, “Trust me.” He knows we will improve, because He teaches us how to win and not throw in the towel of defeat. God does not give up on us; let us not give up on ourselves. We have everything to gain when we trust Him. Stumbling persists when we lean unto our own understanding rather than trusting God to direct our path.
Remember, a winner never quits and a quitter never wins. God helps us to overcome our inadequacies and our lack of self-confidence when He speaks to us through His Word—(Philippians 4:13), “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Though a few people in the stands sometimes express their displeasure when errors happen, the coaches’ voice becomes louder than the few so that the only voice a player hears is his…always speaking positive, heartening words that help negate insecurities, which tear down self confidence. We must listen for God’s voice; not the thundering voices of insensitive people.
I've watched the coach call for timeout and walk out to the pitcher’s mound when the pitcher was struggling. Softly, in a calm voice, he talked to the player and helped him gather himself as he placed his hands on each side of the boy’s face saying, “You can do it.” The coach then walked back to the dugout to show the boy that he had confidence in him no matter what.
God does this. He encourages our heart when we focus on Him rather than the pressures. The Lord helps us not to allow our weaknesses or the circumstances that life brings our way to defeat us. He aids us in taking a deep breath to regain our composure to keep pitching for Jesus. God has confidence that we will succeed.
The Holy Spirit, our coach, will always be there to assist through the difficult times and help us keep the faith.
(2 Timothy 4:7-8), “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Vs.8 “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
Written by,
Papa Boyd
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