Failing Forward

But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. - Luke 22:32

This conversation between Peter and Jesus is very interesting to me, because it is such a great example of divine love and grace. First of all, we see Jesus praying for Peter, asking that the disciple's faith should not fail. Did Jesus suspect or know that His prayer would not be answered? The reason I raise this question is that immediately afterward we see Jesus revealing His understanding that Peter would indeed fail ("... when you have turned back....")!

Here is what I take away from this encounter.

Jesus intercedes for us. Okay, no problem, the Bible expressly tells us that He does, but He also intercedes with a divine awareness of all our faults. Second, Jesus knows that His followers will repent, because that is what His followers do. They turn from their sins back to Him, because they love Him. Finally, we see that when a follower of Christ turns from their sins (most often after a healthy dose of chastisement), Jesus expects that follower to use that experience to strengthen the rest of the faith "family."

We fail, but our failures do not need to be for naught. May others learn and be strengthened by our imperfect, yet diligent (grace-kissed) walk with Christ.

Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be. - John Wooden