Editor’s note: This faith column represents the belief and opinion of the author, who happens to be a Greeley Tribune news editor and reporter.
God knows life is hard. He sent His Son to experience the absolute hardest parts of life, that by His stripes, we might be healed.
Failure is a part of life. Think about this, and maybe you’ve seen the Facebook meme before: Jesus Christ was the perfect teacher, the greatest shepherd and the ideal friend. And yet one of His 12 closest friends not only abandoned Him, but betrayed Him utterly. Even Christ, the greatest leader and spiritual instructor of us all, couldn’t help Judas understand the truth of His divinity enough to engender true faith in the one-time apostle. Even Christ failed to attain His purposes when it came to His ministry toward Judas Iscariot.
But Christ’s failure didn’t disrupt His peace. And our failures don’t have to tear down our own. God knows frustration, grief and failure are part of life, and He has been finding ways to lift us up in times of letdown since Eden.
Here are seven scriptures that you might consider turning to when you’re feeling most defeated that can and will uplift, comfort and encourage you. Let me know which of your favorites I missed
2 Kings 6:16
“And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that are with them.”
This classic and well-beloved verse is probably familiar to you, but in case it is not, let me tell you the story.
Elisha, the great prophet, found his young servant (quite reasonably) afraid as the horsem*n of the enemy Syrians surrounded their city early one morning. But Elisha was not concerned. Why? Because of what he said above. The next verse is a goosebumps inducer.
“And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.“
The prophet, in his elevated heavenly perspective, could see the Lord’s angelic army protecting him. And, while it’s not always quite this literal, it’s always true that, whenever we are on the Lord’s errand, we have more power on our side than any who would oppose us.
Exodus 4:12
“Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.”
This sweet assurance from the Lord to the fearful Moses, recently told that he would be the leader of the people of Israel and quite unconfident in his ability to carry out such a task, is a sweet assurance to all of us who find ourselves faced with a task that we consider to be beyond us.
It may well be beyond us, but nothing on earth is beyond its Creator. And He has promised to be with us and qualify us with divine power, so long as we are doing His will.
2 Corinthians 4:8-10
“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”
These verses in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians is poetic in nature and somewhat obtuse in meaning, but I love it.
The first bit is a sort of a mantra for us when we are passing through tribulation: I am troubled yet not distressed; I am perplexed but not in despair; I am persecuted but not forsaken; I am cast down but not destroyed. Say it out loud. Say it in the mirror. Pick your favorite one or two and write it down in a journal or on a sticky note. There is power in words.
But there is also power in doctrine, and Paul’s here is just as beautiful as his words.
In these times of trouble, he says, we must always remember that Christ, the Lord and Creator, gave up His body and life to pain and death, and, far more importantly, that He lived again thereafter. He blazed our path. And as long as that is true, and we are faithful, we cannot fail.
Deuteronomy 31:6
“Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee, he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
Remember timid Moses from earlier? He grew up.
Here is Moses near the end of his ministry instructing his successor, Joshua, as well as his people as they face great continued trials — some self-imposed, but others simply as parts of their complex lots in life.
Moses is reminding his people of the great victories they have had with the Lord at their backs, and is assuring them that those victories will continue.
Romans 12:21
“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Paul here is speaking of Christlike compassion, even for those who would be our enemies. He’s discussing the Savior’s concept of turning the other cheek and forgiving our aggressors. But he ends this teaching with this high-utility verse for all times and all places.
It’s a simple statement. Don’t let evil beat you. Beat evil with goodness.
It’s easier said than done, sure. But sometimes, saying it makes it easier to do.
If we remember our own victories with the Lord on our side, we should be far more confident that a failure or defeat is but a battle in a larger war — one which we shall surely win if we are armed with God’s power.
Psalm 27:1
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
David here glories in the simple and powerful truth that God is more powerful than any, and as long as He is on your side, success — by the Lord’s definition, anyway — is essentially a guarantee.
The final verse of this beautiful psalm fits with this theme as well:
“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord.”
It’s an important reminder, too, that while we are blessed with a perfect and all-powerful companion when we follow the Lord, that it must be in His time that His promises be fulfilled.
John 16:33
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Nobody better than Christ Himself, is there? This classic verse, spoken from the Upper Room as the Savior’s earthly ministry was drawing to its sacred close, is simply perfect.
Yes, life on earth is hard. It was meant to be. It’s always going to be. But there is reason for peace and for joy: One, whom we are invited to follow, has won the battle that is life on earth. Christ has overcome the world, He says.
The implication, of course, is that we can as well, should we choose to follow Him.
Take courage, friends.
In faith,
Cuyler
