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Falling & Failing

Have you ever been asleep when, all of a sudden, you felt like you were falling and jerked awake? Falling is scary. Sometimes it hurts. It can cause wounds and scars that forever mark us. 

I’m an expert faller. It’s been a wonder to me that I haven’t fallen down the stairs at work because I spent several moments falling down the halls and stairs of my high school. Even as a teacher, I have fallen down on the ground. Sometimes, these stumbles happened in front of students. I usually laugh with them and hope that they forget about it.  They usually don't.  The thing is the more I try to keep myself from falling when it’s happening, the worse it is. My arms flail about as I try to maintain my balance and postpone the inevitable.  Eventually, I quit trying and fall anyway.  And it's usually much harder than if I hadn't tried to stop myself.

So let’s talk about what we do when we fall in life. We are not infallible, which means we are all capable of falling from time to time. The difference between falling and failure is what you do in the next moments.

“The Lord helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads.” (Psalms‬ ‭145:14 NLT)


Why do we fall in life?  Because we live in a fallen world. We've been stumbling around ever since the day Adam and Eve disobeyed God and took the fateful bite that brought sin into the world. It's hard to keep our footing in this life. As believers, we plant ourselves firmly on the solid rock that is Jesus Christ. When we fall, it's much softer to fall into His arms.  Because we will.  I'm human. I will make mistakes.  I will say and do things the wrong way.  And I will fall into Jesus because I trust him to catch me and set my feet back firmly in Him. We keep moving forward in Him and in the way He has prepared for us. As Pastor Chuck always said, "If you fall, fall forward.  Just keep going forward."

Now, let's talk about failure.  Falling is not failure.  I once heard that you only fail if you quit trying.  When you decide that you are finished being what God wants you to be, you are failing.  When you decide to give up on life and just drift along, you are failing. Failing puts all of the expectation and burden on you.  Your feet are firmly planted on you, and unfortunately, friend, you are not the most reliable person to put all your trust in.  No human is.  That's why we have to put our trust and hope in Jesus Christ.

Fortunately, there is hope for fallers and failures. We can change the course we are on and change our footing so we are firmly standing in the love and power of Jesus Christ. The Lord helps the fallen.  He can help us in our failures, too. He can literally turn us around and change our course from failure into success. Falling happens.  Staying down and giving up is failing. Falling or failing.  You choose. 

© Jill Cook and Unbroken & Undone Ministries.  All rights reserved.

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