A Redeemed Failure

A Redeemed Failure

We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Romans 8:28

Huffing and puffing two minutes into my hike up the steep switchback trail, I knew I was in serious trouble. In the months before our group of friends traveled to Colorado to climb a mountain as a fund-raiser, I hadn’t trained enough to reach the summit.

Honestly, I didn’t want to even attempt the climb. Praying, I told God that if someone offered to watch my children, then I’d know I should join my husband on the hike. Wouldn’t you know it—that same afternoon of my prayer, one of our traveling companions offered, out of the blue, to watch our kids while my husband and I hiked.

So here I was, asking God why I was on a mountain I had no hope of summiting. As I panted upward toward the saddle summit, a mere quarter of the way to the top, I heard sobbing on the trail ahead. I pushed my tired legs and aching lungs to go as fast as I could, desperately praying about what I was going to find ahead.

As I reached the saddle summit, I encountered a tired and scared tween girl who had been separated from her hiking group. She later told me that I appeared around the bend just as she had finished praying to God for help. I struck up a gentle conversation and pulled out of my pack the candy bars meant for a summit celebration. I sat with her on a rock in the sun, nibbling on chocolaty goodness as we waited for her group to find us.

The reunion was filled with tears and gratitude. As the group disappeared back down the mountain, I found myself contemplating God’s plan. I was on that specific mountainside that particular morning to answer that girl’s prayer. I perceived my hike to be a failure, but God used it to meet someone else’s need. God so often takes circumstances we perceive as failures, weaknesses, or tragedies and uses them to answer prayers, change lives, and reveal his glory to others.

Is there an area of your life where you’ve experienced failure lately? Pray that God would use this experience for your good or to meet someone else’s need.

—Julie

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

Watch for an opportunity to let God use one of your failures for good.