# 194 Tested By Failure

The Book of Genesis

Day 194

Ge 22:1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 2 Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."

Last time we talked about the relationship between God’s testing of the saints and obedience to His Word. We are tested, our faith is tried, as we are faced daily with choices concerning obedience to God’s Word. Our faith is proved as we respond obediently to God’s Word, and He can say to us, as he said to Abraham, “now I know that you fear God.”

But what about the times we fail? Sometimes the testing can be found in the way we handle our own failures. Peter was so sure of his love for Jesus that he boldly proclaimed, “Lord, I am ready to go with you, both to prison and to death!” Yet, when push came to shove, when the choice of acknowledging Jesus before others or denying Him before others was placed before him, in the midst of that stressful test of his faith…..he failed…..miserably! He denied the Lord just as Jesus said he would, and when he realized his sin, “He went out and wept bitterly.”

But Jesus had also promise to pray for Peter in his testing. He promised to pray that even in this failure, Peter’s faith would not fail, and that he would return to Jesus. We are not told the specifics of how Peter dealt with his failure or how he was restored, but we know that he passed that part of the test and indeed was restored!

 What good news for us in our own failures! Peter grew from his experience and used it to strengthen the brethren. The mere act of returning to the Lord after his failure was a demonstration of an “intact” faith! God could say to Peter as He had said to Abraham, “Now I know that you fear me.” Even in Peter’s failure he proved that he still believed the gospel! He didn’t quit! He returned to Jesus sincerely remorseful for his sin and received the cleansing that God freely offers through faith in Jesus!

Do you want to “prove” your love for the Lord today? Then obey! And even if you fail, obey the Gospel, and return to the Lord in God-pleasing confession and receiving of His forgiveness!

Pray: Lord I want to be obedient but I mess up so often. Let me not lose heart. Let me continually come to You for strength to follow You and when I mess up, I pray that I will keep coming back to You for forgiveness.