WHEN WE FALL DOWN
Hosea 14:1-2
Your sins have been your downfall. Take
words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and
receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.”
Some
of our staff become deeply troubled and discouraged when clients “fail” our New
Life Program. They forget that each of us fail at times, too. We fall into sin
and disappoint our sponsor, Jesus Christ. We too sin against God. This subject
comes up often here at the Mission.
These
failures are disturbing and will bother us. They will discourage us and cause
us to ask ourselves where we may have failed in helping the client. We should
carefully monitor our programs and actions. But the question remains: “Why do
people (clients) fall back into the sin from which God has saved them?” Are
they to be listed as hopeless?
To
put this into perspective, consider a few things. First is that each of us sin
each day and fail our Father. Bad attitudes, an angry voice and a lustful
glance can be a daily event that needs our repentance and prayer for
forgiveness. Consider the number of prominent Christians who have fallen into immoral
acts, theft from their churches or have battered their spouses. When these
leaders fall to the bottom, they have fallen as far as some of our clients. Remember
King David in the Old Testament who lusted enough to have Bathsheba’s husband
killed in battle because of his orders. Jerry McAuley, the “Father of Rescue
Missions” fell back into his alcoholism over and over before one day finding
the power of God’s grace to never touch a drop of alcohol again in his life.
Be
encouraged that all of us struggle along with our clients. Do not take light
their sin or your own. But do not be overly discouraged by your own or the
client’s fall back into sin. Remember we have Jesus, our ‘high priest’ who can
sympathize with our weaknesses. He, too, was tempted in all things as we are,
yet never sinned. To Him we can draw near with confidence knowing His grace
provides us mercy in our struggle to overcome and our desire to be forgiven,
again.
Jericho Road Ministries Chapel, 2011.
