Sabbath 3/6/2021 Seventh Day Baptist Edgewater Pastor Keith “Bouncing Back from Failure” Matt 26;31-35, John 21;3-19, I John 1:9, Isaiah 43;25
Have you ever failed at something that was important to you? Failures can be a job failure, a financial failure or an education failure. Just about everyone has had some failures of some kind. The most difficult failures for us to get over are the ones that take us by surprise. These are the ones we thought would never happen to us. That is what makes the Titanic ship sinking the most remembered failure of all. The most difficult failures to deal with are the ones that take us by surprise.
When this surprise failure does happen, it is easy to feel like our world is falling apart. An example of this is the Apostle Peter. Peter told Jesus he would never disown Him. Peter said he would die with Him but not deny Him. That very night, Jesus is betrayed and arrested and Peter follows. A servant girl recognizes Peter and says Peter was with Jesus. Peter says he is not with Jesus and does not know what she is talking about. This would have been a good time for Peter to express his boldness and say he was with Jesus. But did he do that? No. Three times Peter is accused of being with Jesus and three times he denies that he even knows Jesus. Peter did exactly what he said he would never do. The rooster crowed, Peter remembered Jesus’s words and he wept bitterly because he had failed Jesus.
Let us fast forward a few weeks to John chapter 21. By this time, Jesus is risen from the dead. Peter has seen Jesus but Peter’s failure is still eating him up on the inside. He knows that he has failed and thinks that he can never bounce back. So what does Peter do? He goes home and gets back to fishing. Peter has gone back to what he knows best, he has gone back to fishing. This happens when people are troubled. A pianist goes to her piano to play, a golfer goes out to play golf and work off his frustration by hitting a ball.
We have all been in this boat called failure at one time or another. We have wondered how we can recover. Here in John chapter 21 we get the answer from the conversation between a risen savior Jesus and Simon Peter. Three things to bounce back from failure:
Have you ever failed at something that was important to you? Failures can be a job failure, a financial failure or an education failure. Just about everyone has had some failures of some kind. The most difficult failures for us to get over are the ones that take us by surprise. These are the ones we thought would never happen to us. That is what makes the Titanic ship sinking the most remembered failure of all. The most difficult failures to deal with are the ones that take us by surprise.
When this surprise failure does happen, it is easy to feel like our world is falling apart. An example of this is the Apostle Peter. Peter told Jesus he would never disown Him. Peter said he would die with Him but not deny Him. That very night, Jesus is betrayed and arrested and Peter follows. A servant girl recognizes Peter and says Peter was with Jesus. Peter says he is not with Jesus and does not know what she is talking about. This would have been a good time for Peter to express his boldness and say he was with Jesus. But did he do that? No. Three times Peter is accused of being with Jesus and three times he denies that he even knows Jesus. Peter did exactly what he said he would never do. The rooster crowed, Peter remembered Jesus’s words and he wept bitterly because he had failed Jesus.
Let us fast forward a few weeks to John chapter 21. By this time, Jesus is risen from the dead. Peter has seen Jesus but Peter’s failure is still eating him up on the inside. He knows that he has failed and thinks that he can never bounce back. So what does Peter do? He goes home and gets back to fishing. Peter has gone back to what he knows best, he has gone back to fishing. This happens when people are troubled. A pianist goes to her piano to play, a golfer goes out to play golf and work off his frustration by hitting a ball.
We have all been in this boat called failure at one time or another. We have wondered how we can recover. Here in John chapter 21 we get the answer from the conversation between a risen savior Jesus and Simon Peter. Three things to bounce back from failure:
- Learn From It: Admit failure and learn from it. Proverbs 28;13. Don’t conceal or hide the failure. And don’t hide from it either. Face it head on. We all have sinned and need Jesus but there are many people who will never admit their sins. A great benefit from failures is that you can learn something that you would never have learned otherwise.
- Let Go Of It: Jesus shows up on the shore and Peter goes to the Lord. When Peter looks at Jesus, he is looking into the face of forgiveness. Don’t get stuck in the past, living a life full of regrets. We need to take our sins and failures to Jesus. We need to humbly confess them to the Lord and He promises to forgive us. I John 1:9. In Isaiah 43:25 God says He will blot out our transgressions and forget our sins.
- Look To The Future: Peter gets out of the boat to face Jesus. Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him. Three times Jesus says for Peter to feed His sheep. Peter recovered from his failure and became the greatest success story in history. He helped to spread the gospel of Jesus around the entire world.