Sense of Failure

You may be able to hide them
from your family.
or your friends.
from the church.
and even the world looking in.

You cannot hide them from your husband, little ones, yourself, or God.

What Do We Do When We Fail?

Although we’ve talked about not being enough, we cannot lose heart when we fail.  What do we do when we fail?

In 2 Samuel 6 we read a great big failure on the part of King David.  He is a new king.  The ark of the covenant was a special ornament that was supposed to be in the tabernacle.  It contained special articles from Israel’s past.  The ark represented God’s presence, which also went with it: prosperity, God’s favor, and protection. 

During the reign of King Saul, the ark of the Lord was stolen by the Philistines – the enemies of God’s people.  Calamity was all they encountered while the ark was with them.  So the Philistines returned the ark to Israel.  It dwelt in the house of Abinadab (I Samuel 7:1) for a long time.  

David Failed

When King David became king, he decided to bring the ark back to Jerusalem, where it belonged.  Although David had pure motives, he did not seek God’s counsel in how to transport the ark.

In 2 Samuel 6 we read of how a horrible mistake was met with a disastrous end.  David sent 30,000 men from Isreal to go and get the ark from Baale Judah.  David traveled with them, playing music and rejoicing.  The ark was put on an ox cart and a few men stood around to protect it. Suddenly, the cart hit the road and the ark almost toppled to the ground.  A man named Uzzah put his hand on the ark to steady it.  It says in verse seven, “The anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, an God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God.”

David’s response seems reasonable, “And David became angry because of the Lord’s outbreak against Uzzah.”  Why would God kill a man for just touching the ark?

If David had read the instructions of God in the Books of the Law, he would have seen that only Levite priests were allowed to move the ark.  There were also strict rules for how to touch the ark.  The ark of God represented His presence with them.  Never were they to take it lightly.  God was to be feared and reverenced as much as He was to be loved and worshiped.

Keep Going

When David made that mistake, we find that he did not just abandon the project.  He did not wallow in self-pity or doubt.  He searched the Scripture and realized that burnt offerings and sacrifices were necessary for moving the ark.  In verses 12-15 we see that David did eventually move the ark to Jerusalem, and God blessed it.

David did not let his sense of failure detour him from what he knew he had to do.  

Do not let failure keep you from doing what is right.  We fail as a mother or wife and feel as if we will never get it right – so why try?  Because God says: His Grace is Enough and to Keep Working.  We are not to abandon our duties because we fail.

We sometimes fail because we are living in sin.
Therefore, we are to confess our sin (I John 1:9) and continue to live in God’s grace.

We sometimes fail because we were not knowledgable.
For this reason we need to study and learn from our failures, so not to make the same mistakes again.

When you feel a sense of failure, remember God is full of grace.  He is a patient teacher.  Although there will be consequences sometimes to our failings, nothing is too far for God to redeem.

Sarah E. Frazer is a writer and Bible study mentor at sarahefrazer.com. She is the wife of Jason and mother of five who all serve as full-time missionaries in Honduras. Her passion is to encourage women to fall in love with the Bible. Sarah is the author of several Bible study resources for women. She shares tools for deep-rooted Bible study at sarahefrazer.com. Follow her on Instagram (http://www.instagram.com/sarah_e_frazer) and join her free prayer challenge at sarahefrazer.com/prayer