Reflection: You Can Stumble But You Won’t Fall – Part Two
(If you missed Part One please follow this link).
Psalm 37:23-24; Matthew 26:31-35, Matt.26:69-75
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand” (Psalm 37:23-24 NKJV).
My reflection is a combination of both Psalm 37 and Matthew 26 readings.
It is a good thing that the Bible points out examples of Godly characters falling. We could otherwise deny this temptation. You and I are inclined to say “I am not like that; I am beyond that type of temptation”. Be careful, what victory you have today might just be tomorrow’s downfall. The scripture of I Peter 5:8 warns: “Satan roams the world like a mighty lion, looking for overconfident Christians he can devour”
Two other verses are worth considering:
“Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity” (Proverbs 24:16).
No matter how many times we fall again and again and again, the struggles we face again and again and again – the Lord intends that we rise up again and again and again.
Psalm 145:14 declares that, “The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.” We should keep in mind that after we fall, we need to get up and continue walking with the Lord.
God is in control, we don’t always understand all that happens to us, but we have to remember that the Lord said in Rom.8:28 that “all things” – that includes all the good and the bad things that we experience – work for the good of our relationship with Him.
So when things seem to be out of control, as children of God we remain assured, confident and peaceful. Our paths are never just a straight line that leads us to heaven. We will go through many a trial and tribulation, but we know God ordains our steps, even though our struggles are necessary, not very pleasant at the time, or easy to cope with.
Our choices (Often bad choices), bring troubles on ourselves. We hurt others and ourselves in many ways, as we repeat these choices again and again; Sin is very serious, when we sin we hurt ourselves and often our loved ones and friends. Then we conclude wrongly, that God hates us now. We want to hide away in a dark place, thinking that God could never forgive us and take us back into His loving arms after what we did.
God loves all of us with never failing and everlasting love, there is no way we can be separated from God’s love through Jesus Christ (Romans 8:38-39).
When we come back to our Lord feeling so guilty and thinking that we are completely lost, we find our God is waiting with open arms to welcome us back with forgiveness of our transgressions. He will not let us continue in our sin as He loves us too much.
Remember the Prodigal Son. In a faraway place coming to realise that he had wasted his inheritance and now had to eat with pigs, what happened when he returned home? His father saw him coming when he was still a long way off and ran to welcome him home with open arms hugging and kissing him.
The trials that we face are not designed to destroy us. We have the assurance that even when we “stumble or fall” it is just temporarily. God will not permanently let our relationship with Him be destroyed (Psalm 37:24).
So, when you are in the fire and find it hard to see what good could come from this, we must rely on our faith and hang in there with the belief that things will get better in the long run. God is not done with us just because we stumbled and fell (Job 23:10).
In Luke 22:31-32, Jesus said these things to Peter before he denied Him three times. Jesus knew that these things were about to happen. Jesus knew the steps that Peter would follow in doing it wrong. Knowing that Peter loved Him and through His praying, Peter would return stronger after being humbled by failure. Peter would serve the Lord in humility after his painful fall.
The “doctrine of eternal security”, so named by Theologians, simply states that when God saves us, He saves us forever. Even when we fall thousands of times God’s love stands firm. God is eternal and unchanging and in this, our salvation does not depend on our own performance.
(Charles Spurgeon said). “No saint shall fall finally or fatally. Sorrow may bring us to the earth, and death may bring us to the grave, but lower we cannot sink, and out of the lowest of all we shall arise to the highest of all”
Martin Luther stated that there are three things that it takes to make a man of God—meditation, prayer and temptation.
I am okay with the first two but not so sure about adding “Temptation”! Luther was saying that a Godly character should be made through the trials and tribulations of life, when we fight battles against the temptations of this world. When we are tempted to just give up on the struggles of life, be greedy, give in to indulgence, our pride, then these are the things that will destroy us if we give in. However, if we stand firm, they will make us stronger.
We cannot pretend that these things never happen to us as Christians or that we don’t have the same suffering as others on this earth. It is not good when we sin. Ask anyone of our Christian Brothers or Sisters who had a fall into any sin – sin only delights “for a season.”
Look at all of Satan’s apples, they are all full of worms. The important part of this passage is that we need to look at it as God always working in our lives. In our stumbles and falls, in ways we do not see at the time, God does not waste an opportunity. All things really do work together for our own good, even when we don’t see it (Romans 8:28).
2024 may bring you situations that you think are unbearable, but as you turn to the Lord, He will give you the strength to get through the trial. Just always remember, God does not give you strength in advance, but when you need it, it will be there. So,as each day of the year comes and goes, God will give you what you NEED but not what you want. Go into the New Year knowing that you have the confidence to face each day with hope and joy.
Let me conclude with these words:
If you are tired of your sin, turn to Jesus.
If you want a new start in life, turn to Jesus.
If you feel like a failure, turn to Jesus.
If you fear the future, turn to Jesus.
If you need hope and encouragement, turn to Jesus.
If you want to meet Jesus, turn to Jesus.
As a closing thought, Things will be the same some of the time. A lot will be different, new things will happen, but take heart Children of God, your future is in the hands of God who loves you far more than you realise. If you stumble and fall, God is there to help you up and carry you through.
Amen.
Eric Smith