Joshua Street’s Blog

Maybe it’s the psychologist part of me, but this video makes a ton of sense. Spiritually, however, I’m not so sure.

I think a few reasons are:

1. People can only change so quickly – I don’t think it is God’s intention to hold us back from change, but I do think there is something about lasting change when it takes place over time. If I would have been given a list of things I needed to do once I became a Christian, I surely do not think I would still be one today. I would have given up. Not due to the lack of desire, but do to the lack of ability to live up to a standard. I think this is a constant battle, at least for me.

2. A reward system – While I don’t think we are righted anything in this life, I do think that we have to lay off every once and a while. I don’t have a whole lot of Jesus quotes for this one, but I think that was built strongly into Jewish culture…I mean who else has 12 crazy Christmas Nights?

3. Like it or not we are human and flawed – We best have a time to release mental stress or we are going to fry our brain. I feel like there are some days that you can see the stream rising from my scalp. On those days, I need the extra trip around the block to unwind and release. And yes, we need to establish planned times during our days to release…even when we don’t think we need it. After all, you don’t know what mental energy tomorrow will require until it gets here.

This Sunday Jo and I had the privilege of being in church…it has been fairly inconsistent since Judah’s birth for obvious reasons. Pastor Marty spoke on failure which is something I have been accustom to and apparently I have let my life be rule at times trying to prevent it. Here are just a few of the statements that I can actually say changed the way I see myself and my life.

We all stumble in many ways
James 3:2

I am going to fail. Everyone is falling in some area. Sound like the defeatist mentality huh? That’s what I thought until I actually failed. It was then I realized my place in perspective to God. It was in my failure that Christ’s strength actually became stronger in my life. I’ve felt weaker than ever, but at the same time at peace knowing that I am not in control.

For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.
Proverbs 24:16

I chose my words carefully on this statement because my viewpoint on “wicked” is the result of a continuing desire and pursuit of sin not fall. Although I only count myself righteous due to the fact of Christ, it is comforting to know that even in the midst of my failures there is always hope of restoration and that He never tires of forgiving me.

In Conclusion Failure has Benefits
1. Failure will educate me
- A man cannot succeed without learning from his failures.
2. Motivate Me to Change
- Keep in mind that sometime the hard way is the only way to begin a
change for the better

Blows and wounds cleanse away evil, and beating purge the inmost being.
Proverbs 20:30

3. Cultivates Us
- Failure develops our character
- Failure makes us less judgmental (Romans 5)

4. Relax in God’s Grace
- God expects our failures. He even already knows about every one of
them

This was the thing that almost brought me to tears…

He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.
Psalms 103:14

No failure could overshadow that kind of compassion and understanding. I wish I didn’t need it (and that I would never fail), but it is nice to know that no matter what we know where we can find it.