Discovering that true survival requires a faith that defies all human reason What do you do when your absolute worst-case scenario becomes your reality? For years, Dr Shaun McCarthy lived a life of perceived invincibility, navigating demanding careers in special forces and intelligence while keeping God at a comfortable distance. He reasoned there would be […]
Have you ever been tempted to define yourself by your failure rather than by the grace of God? When that thought comes, you need to deal with it quickly or it threatens to ruin not just your day but your life! The Bible is a frank record of those who failed but began again through the grace of God – take Peter, Thomas and Paul for example. Whether your failure is caused by wrong actions, wrong belief or wrong deeds, God’s grace is enough as it was for each one of these examples. Quotes from famous people tend to major on what we can learn from failure with the incentive that if we’ve never failed then we’ve never tried. Whilst there’s truth in this, some failure for a Christian can cripple them and rot the soul – at that point, only God’s Word can rehabilitate and heal the soul:
What represents the greatest power today – a president, a multinational, a nuclear bomb, gravity, the sea, the wind? Greater than all of these was that felt by the eighth man to walk on the moon:
‘The Earth reminded us of a Christmas tree ornament hanging in the blackness of space. As we got farther and farther away it diminished in size. Finally it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful marble you can imagine. That beautiful, warm, living object looked so fragile, so delicate, that if you touched it with a finger it would crumble and fall apart. Seeing this has to change a man, has to make a man appreciate the creation of God and the love of God. I felt the power of God as I’d never felt it before’ – James Irwin
