2Chron 33:33 - Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites, and he had all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord, the God of their fathers.
Failure can have a lasting impression on the rest of our lives. All of us have had experiences either in our lives or with people around us where we decided: "I'm never doing that (again)".
One of those situations for me was when my dad took my brother and I out hunting for rabbit. He would have us walk the fields as his wingmen to scare up the rabbits, then try to shoot one when it jumped. It was all fun until I wrestled up a rabbit and he shot the gun my direction---I actually heard the bullet go past me (still can hear it in my head). It scared me enough to never want to be around guns. His lapse of judgment in shooting that close to me was a failure that still impacts me.
Failure can be a great teacher. It can also be a crippling disease. The difference is all up to how we respond to it.
In Hezekiah's reign, when God told of the destruction to come, the king decided to enjoy what little life he had left. In Josiah's situation, he decided to do something about it and try to direct the people back to God. While the outcomes were not avoided (we can't decide for other people), God did honor the response of Josiah. Instead of being crippled by the failure of Israel, he used it as motivation to change the nation.
We have all failed God, and the way we respond to the failure says a lot about whether we really love ourselves or love God. Choose carefully how you respond. Let failure be a teacher of what we are to do instead of robbing us of motivation to try.
I don't hunt these days, but a friend recently took me to a shooting range. He showed me the right way to shoot and be safe with a rifle. I had a blast learning, and no bullets were shot in my direction :).
What has failure been teaching you in your walk with the Lord?
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