In Case of Painful and Embarrassing Face-Plant

I was walking into the Palace theater with some friends awhile back and in an attempt to kick a small rubber bouncy ball that was on the ground I slipped and landed on my backside. It was quite embarrassing.  The girls in the group laughed as I lay on the ground in pain. They continued on into the theater to watch the movie while I remained on the ground. I stayed on the ground for several days until I just gave up and died.

Tragic story right? Well as you could have guessed, its not true. Well, its partially true. I did fall on my butt trying to kick a bouncy ball and my friends laughed at me and some of them would still remind me of it today. However, I pretty quickly got up and tried to shrug it off. It is a pretty absurd thought that one would simply never get up again. 

What am I getting at? If you haven't guessed this verse should help. 

Proverbs 24:16 

For the Righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.

Here we see the difference between the righteous and wicked man. The difference is simply the will to get back up on our feet again. 

What if the scenario were different? What if it wasn't your fault that you fell? What if my friends actually pushed me to the ground? The answer in both cases is the same, I would still get back up again. I think that falling includes calamity brought on by outside forces we cannot control as well as our own mistakes. 

How do we get up then? What does it mean to get up? I think the answer is forgiveness. When someone else hurts us we forgive them and don't allow that bitterness to grow inside us. When we fail, stumble, or fall, we must forgive ourselves. This is the hardest thing for us to do but it is so essential. How can we not forgive ourselves when the God of the universe came down and died for us on the cross to forgive us? Honestly, it is insulting to that sacrifice when we hold onto our failure! If God forgives others we should forgive them, and if he forgives us we should also forgive ourselves. 

This includes our conversations with God. I often times find myself saying sorry over and over again to him and I can just imagine him sitting their trying to tell me how ridiculous I sound. For I am not defined but my failure but by his victory. He doesn't want to talk about that junk, he wants me to enjoy his presence.

So next time you face plant into the pavement, take a moment to dwell on the great promises of the Lord, lift yourself up off the ground, and continue the race set before you. 

Happy New Year everybody!