So many today are afraid of failure. Maybe that’s you, afraid to fail. It’s because of this fear that you choose to play it safe. But it’s in our failures we learn a lot about ourselves and, better yet, a lot about the faithfulness of God. He can overcome our failures and use them for His glory.
We see significant failure in the family of Adam and Eve. After choosing to sin by disobeying God, so much chaos, confusion, and consequence quickly enter their family.
Cain brings an offering to God that is not respected. He wanted to worship God with his own efforts, which were unacceptable. It made him angry, so much so that he murdered his brother Abel. It was a complete sinful disaster.
What does God do? He raises another generational line through Seth. The Bible is so amazing here as it contrasts the ungodly line of Cain, which is godless, empty, consumed with wrath, murderous, and selfish, with the line of Seth, where men began to call upon the name of the Lord! Grace!
Genesis 4:25–26 (NLT) “Adam had sexual relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to another son. She named him Seth, for she said, “God has granted me another son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed.” When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. At that time people first began to worship the Lord by name.”
It’s through Seth that generation upon generation will call upon the name of the Lord. Through the gift of God to Eve, through His grace, through His compensation, billions of hearts are turned toward Him. We have a greater than Seth today, Jesus Christ, who invites you into a relationship with Him. Today.
John 3:16–17 (NLT) “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”
New hope! A new beginning! God can take our failures and use them to display His glory.
So, if you’re afraid of failure, don’t be. In these times, we see how big our God is and how He uses us despite our sinfulness. And that, my friends, is pretty amazing.
I’m sure Eve felt like she was a failure as a mom, but she wasn’t. Her son sinned greatly, not her. God took the failures of her son Cain and gave her and the world, Seth. So good!
