Dwight Fletcher | Failure isn’t the end of your story

We often assume that our biggest failures have the power to define or destroy the rest of our lives. But what if they don’t? For the last two weeks, we’ve been in a series about getting past regret and moving on.

So, today, let me ask you: what if the life-changing moment isn’t when you failed but what you choose to do after?

We’ve been looking at the lives of two men in the Bible who failed and experienced deep regret. One was Judas. The other was Peter.

Both were followers of Jesus. Both made heartbreaking decisions on the very night Jesus was arrested. Judas betrayed Him for money. Peter denied even knowing Him. Neither man could undo what had happened. Both were forced to face the painful reality of their actions. Yet, their stories ended very differently.

The difference wasn’t that Peter’s sin was somehow smaller than Judas’. Nor was it that Peter was stronger or more deserving. The difference was how they responded to their regret. Judas allowed regret to convince him that there was no way back. Peter, despite his shame, eventually allowed Jesus to meet him in his brokenness.

I think many of us live somewhere between those two responses. When we’ve made a poor decision, hurt someone we love or watched an important opportunity slip away, our instinct is often to hide. We withdraw from people. We stop believing God can still use us. We quietly assume our best years are behind us.

Regret has a way of making us believe that failure is final, but the Gospel tells us otherwise.

One of my favourite moments after Jesus’ resurrection is found in Mark 16:7 (CEV). When the women arrived at the empty tomb, the angel gave them this instruction: “Now go and tell his disciples, and especially Peter, that he will go ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you.”

Two words in particular have always moved me: “especially Peter”. Peter was the one who thought he had disqualified himself. He was the disciple likely carrying the greatest shame. This follower of Jesus probably believed Jesus would want nothing more to do with him. Before Peter could ever apologise or go looking for Jesus, Jesus was already making sure Peter knew he was still wanted.

That’s the heart of God. He does not ignore our failures, but neither does He abandon us because of them. Too often, we imagine God standing over us with folded arms, reminding us of every mistake we’ve ever made. Yet, what we read in the Gospels is remarkably different. Jesus goes looking for the very disciple everyone else might have counted out.

Grace has always pursued people before they deserved it. This is why we don’t need to give up when we fail. Romans 8:1 (AMP) reminds us, “ Therefore there is now no condemnation [no guilty verdict, no punishment] for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Notice that the verse doesn’t say there are no mistakes. It says there is no condemnation. There is a world of difference. Condemnation tells you that your failure is now your identity and you are unworthy of coming to God. Conviction shows you your failure so that healing can begin. It says that you were unworthy, because we are all unworthy, but Jesus loves you and chooses you, anyway.

Perhaps you’ve spent months — or even years — carrying something that Jesus has already paid for. Perhaps you’ve accepted His forgiveness in your mind but still struggle to receive it in your heart. If that’s you, remember Peter.

His greatest failure became the backdrop for one of God’s greatest restorations. Don’t let regret end the story that God is writing for your life. Placed in the hands of Jesus, even failure can become the beginning of a story of redemption.