Have You Fallen?

“For a righteous person falls seven times and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of disaster.” Proverbs 24:16 NASB

“Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” Abraham Lincoln

I have fallen many times. I’m older and can see most of the trip-ups and face-down experiences in my life. I wouldn’t want to be young and have to learn those lessons again! Even worse, older and learning them again—sometimes I do.

“Those who stand for nothing fall for everything,” was said by Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of our country. And we fall, especially when we’re young. We’re beginners. Everyone is a beginner at something. There is hope: We are fortunate to have a “High Priest” to help us.

Nobody knows how to “do” relationships at first. Even the apostles had to learn the right relations. Peter fell. David fell. Until we become acquainted with ourselves in light of our salvation, we will be tossed and thrown by our experiences with others. No one has had a perfect relationship. Even our relationship with the Father is imperfect on our side of it.

Nobody knows how to love in the beginning.  We are inundated with books, films, and television with what love is supposed to be. Even more discouraging are the fantastical happy endings. I believe love conquers all, but not the way we may hope or think. The cross is the perfect example—no one saw that coming.

Our greatest lessons come from our relationships. Parental love looks so lovely in our minds, in media, and in photographs. Any parent will say they have learned more about love than they ever expected when they became a parent. It requires patience, a backbone, sleepless nights, numerous prayers, and compassion.  Their frame of reference was their childhood, which is not perfect and may have many stumbles and pitfalls. Doubled efforts are required. Growing pains are many.

And we get to learn over and over. Through our colleagues, boss, cashier at the grocery store, the delivery person, and especially those in our church families.

We fall and then our Father reveals to us what we need to work on first. I’ve ignored this to my own peril. But the Spirit speaks gently without judgment and will not intrude. Learn to pause, listen, and self-reflect. What is this situation telling me?

Holidays can be excruciating. With the music, the happiness, and celebration, if alone, widowed, or abandoned, the holidays mock us. They make us want to shut everyone out and lock up our hearts. There are good things about the holidays with their messages of hope and sharing, but if there’s been an earth-shattering loss, holidays are salt in the gaping wounds. We may fall. But our Father promises He will never leave us or forsake us, though the feelings say differently. Feelings are not always correct.

Musings

In the Father’s loving ways, we come to this: We feel the heat or we see the Light. And the Light loves. No one has sacrificed as much to love us. No matter what we’ve said or done, we’re loved and we can stand up from our fallen position in His grace.

Prayer

Dear Father,

Through Your Son, we can get up and start over. The Word tells us Your mercies are new every morning. Others can’t give us what we so desperately need: a Savior. Help us to reflect on the Bible characters and their fallen experiences with hope and resolve.

With gratitude,

Amen.