What do you do when your prayers seem to fail? How are you supposed to respond when the story doesn’t end with “happily ever after?” Many people have had a crisis of faith when what they thought ‘should’ happen or believed was ‘supposed’ to happen did not. Some blame themselves for not being righteous enough as if the failure is on their end. Others blame God for not being good or for being absent. Are either of these the case when our faith and failure mix? Is there a third alternative to “I am bad” versus “God is bad?” Perhaps we are asking the wrong question altogether?
Faith and failure are not mutually exclusive. True faith in God is not absent of disappointment. For some reason we tend to forget that the symbol of Christianity is a torture device reserved for criminals and reprobates. The cross of Jesus is only a symbol of victory for us now because we know on the third day after His death, Jesus rose to life again conquering death, hell, and the grave. However, for three whole days everyone who had put their faith in Him had lost.
Not only had they lost, they were made a public spectacle, and the proof that their silly faith was misplaced was the blood stained cross on the hill of calvary. There were no victorious songs about “The Old Rugged Cross” or that there is “Power in the Blood” for those three days. It was disaster at a magnitude that was almost life-destroying for those who had hoped in Jesus to be the Messiah and Savior. Were they wrong to believe? (Click here to read my post on “Broken Dreams”)
Losers and Winners
Hebrews chapter eleven is often referred to as the “hall of faith.” It is a listing of great men and women of God who trusted Him to bring about the promises He had given. There is a very important detail the writer of Hebrews provides we often forget. Verse thirteen says, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance…”.
Did you catch that? They were all losers. All of them. They all believed, and prayed, and waited and… died. No victory parade. No graduation ceremony. In fact, if you read the whole chapter you find many of them were persecuted, despised, and discarded. Yet they were commended for their faith! Does that seem unfair to you? Keep reading.
At the end of Hebrews eleven a very important verse is found. It says, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” The Bible says their faith was important and necessary but that there was more to the story that needed to be written before everything would be fulfilled.
Many of us have watched a football or basketball game where halfway through the contest it seemed it was over. Perhaps, like me, you have even turned the game off at half-time because of what seemed to be a foregone conclusion. However, it is not over until is ultimately over and, on more than one occasion, I have missed an amazing second half comeback because I was certain I understood what was happening. (Click here to read my post “Good Grief”)
And Now For The Rest Of The Story
The writer of Hebrews said there was a part of the story that other people had to play in order for everyone to share in the fullness of God’s promises. In other words, in order for everyone to experience the victory, God was willing to allow some to look like losers for a time so that ultimately everyone could be a winner. So what does this have to do with you or with faith and failure mixing? Everything.
Our genuine faith only looks like failure when we assume we know what is going on or that we have seen the whole story play out. However, we seldom have the full perspective. We have such small vision that we see death as the end of the story, divorce as the guarantee our life is over, or being laid off as proof God has forgotten about us. Perhaps what you think is the end of the game is only halftime?
God has no limits. Therefore what we see as final is barely halftime for Him. Yes, we may weep at the loss of a loved-one or mourn the end of a relationship but while we may feel finished, God is not done. If that is too difficult for you to comprehend then allow that to serve as yet another reminder you are not God! He cares about our weakness and understands our pain. What is better, He doesn’t require us to know what He knows. He merely calls us to trust Him and that is called faith. Faith and failure mix all of the time, but when it does, it doesn’t have to mix us up.
You can break in God’s hands. You can doubt and have questions but if you will resolve to trust Him more than you trust your own understanding you will discover there is yet more to the story and that He alone can ultimately give beauty for ashes. (Click here to read my post, “He’s On Ever Page of Your Story”)
From The Bible:
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. – Hebrews 11:39-40 NIV
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. – Proverbs 3:5 NIV
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes… – Isaiah 61:1b-3a NIV