Put Failures To Rest

(Devotional by Helen Grace Lescheid)

(June 2004, 4 minutes)

Past experiences, not properly dealt with, can haunt us for the rest of our lives. Yet, it is possible to be free of past failures and unresolved guilt if we will but act upon Paul’s advice, “..I’m focussing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead” (Phil. 3:13 NLT).

Paul knew what he was talking about. He had dragged Christian men and women off to prison and commanded Stephen to be stoned. Although he saw himself as the worst of sinners, in Christ he found a redemptive quality in his past (1. Timothy 1:15-18) We can too.

Forgetting the Past.

Is it possible to erase all memories of what happened? No! Paul never forgot past activities that he was now ashamed of. Yet the past did not have a hold on him. He did not cling to it in senseless rehashing. Why? He had released the past to God. How can we do that?

1. Face up to your past wrongs and let Christ forgive you and clear you of all guilt.

It is not God’s will that we be reminded of past sins that we have confessed to Him. Satan would want us to wallow in remorse, but God lets us know that, “If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong” (1. John 1:9 NLT).
Forgiveness is immediate upon a contrite confession. At one time I thought that one had to suffer awhile to show how sorry one was, or to learn a lesson not to do it again before God would forgive sin. Then it dawned on me what Christ meant when He cried from the cross: “It is finished!”

The suffering for sin. Finished! The atoning for sin. Finished! The guilt of sin. Finished!

Christ’s sacrifice on the cross paid the entire debt. Now God has written “cancelled,” over our record of sins. Paul embraced this fact with joy. “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me,” he exults in (1. Tim. 1:14 NIV). Likewise we must accept Christ’s gracious offer of forgiveness and begin to think and act like forgiven people.

To get a handle on God’s forgiveness for myself, I have copied verses from the Bible that speak to me of God’s love and forgiveness. I carry these small cards in my purse of pocket, so I can recite them often. When echoes of past failures foll in, I repeat God’s words of forgiveness until my mind can accept God’s truth and begin to be at peace again.

2. Forgive yourself.

Being imperfect we sometimes fail. That’s the nature of being human. Paul had learned to look at himself and his past with understanding. “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man,” he writes, “I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief” (1. Tim. 1:13 NIV).

Looking forward to what lies ahead.

Instead of hanging onto energy-sapping remorse, Paul used past failures as a powerful motivator to work for God in the present. “I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven” (Phil. 3:14 NLB).

Paul focussed on God’s grace and forgiveness, not on his own failures. In fact, Paul saw his failures as something God could use. “God had mercy on me, so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of His great patience with even the worst of sinners” (1. Tim. 1:16 NLT). God is bigger than our failures. When we give our failures to Him, He will weave them into His perfect plan for our lives.

After Chuck Colson’s release from prison, he founded Prison Fellowship, an international ministry to prisoners in many countries of the world. “God used my greatest failure to bring about his greatest good,” he writes. In my own life also, God has used failures, my own and others, to bring about his good purpose.

Although we can’t undo past failures, we can let go of guilt and remorse. We can turn our failures over to God and watch him make something beautiful out of them. The choice is ours.

If you have any spiritual inquiries or if we can be of assistance in upholding a need in prayer, please know that your concerns are most welcome (without any solicitations) at: [email protected]