Is your life defined by failure?

Peter.  Normal.  A normal person with normal struggles.  We tend to think of Peter's life full of failure. Every major event in Peter's life was defined by failure.  Sometimes in today's world we feel the same.  We feel that everything we do, we fail at or we feel that the world is failing around us.  We have to remember that Peter chose to be a leader, even in times he failed.  This past Sunday we learned that Peter had two major failures. First, we learned that Peter failed by rebuking Jesus.  Jesus was upset with Peter because he was not setting his eyes upon the things of God, but instead he was setting his eyes upon the things of man. As humans, in a society full of failure, we fail when we think of things from our own perspective and not God's perspective. We strive to be successful and put so much pressure on success, but is that where all of the glory should go? Are our eyes focusing on the right things or do we get wrapped up in our society and forget our true focus.  Francis Chan quotes,  “Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.”  The number one way to fail in our Christian Life is to focus on the things of man and not of the things of God.  It is essential to always stop and ask yourself before making a decision...
"Will I be upset or regret doing this?" 

The other day I was asked to think of my number  one regret. Instantly, the regret of not saying "goodbye" to my sister and being there for her that day flooded my mind. Then we were asked... were you thinking of yourself or God during this time of regret? My answer? Myself. I was thinking of myself and only myself.  The night before, I was thinking of myself.  Early that morning, I was thinking of myself.  My eyes were not set upon the Lord that morning and I was not thinking of others, especially my sister. I had my first western civ test that morning and I was thinking about the test and how I would do.  I was worried about myself. I know that God forgives us of our sins and "regrets." Can I say for 100% that my decisions that morning would have changed the outcome of that day? No. I can't.  But I can have peace knowing that God has forgiven me for  my regrets that day, more easily than I forgave myself. Christ made a difference in Peter's life and he can make a difference in our lives too. Big or small, our regrets can be forgiven.  

John Newton, was a slave trader in Great Britain. He was an evil person who used slaves in the wrong way.  After years of doing wrong, John Newton became saved and had regrets.  He regretted his decisions of slavery and fought to not only turn his life around , but the life of a slave as well. From the outcome of his life, he wrote the famous hymn, Amazing Grace. Even though Newton's eyes were fixed upon himself, failure helped change his life, just like the life of Peter and our lives as well.  People are used in great ways, we are to model Christ, even after failure.  

Sometimes messages are felt like they are preached directly towards you.  This past Sunday, I felt like I was the only person in the room, and this message was for me and only me.  Yes, I know there were probably hundreds of other people in the room that felt the exact same way, but sometimes it's nice to feel the power of a message that close. With the thoughts of regrets running through my mind, the icing on the cake was when the pastor mentioned John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace, a beautiful song that was chosen for my sister's funeral.  A song that still brings tears to my eyes when heard on the radio or at church.  A song that I will never forget was tied to "my biggest regret" without knowing that connection was coming. God is Good.  The service was ended with Amazing Grace  and tears that were impossible to fight back.  Wow! What a powerful and mighty God we serve.