From Failure to Success

“Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.” (Jonah 3:1-3). Notice the difference between God’s second calling to Jonah to go to Nineveh and the first one.  After God’s first call, ‘Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.’ (Jon 1:3). Instead of obeying the Lord, Jonah fled to the farthest place, Tarshish.  Because he ran away from the Lord, a big fish swallowed him.  He prayed to the Lord from the belly of the great fish and the Lord made the fish to vomit Jonah on dry land. There, the Lord called him a second time and said, ‘Arise’.  Our God is the God of second chances; transforming failure into success.

The Lord gives us a second chance to overcome and succeed to makeup for all previous failures and defeats.  Even if we miss many chances given to us by the Lord, He gives us yet another chance to turn our failure into success if we ask Him to do so. In Jesus name, every matter in which we experienced defeat will be turned to success. The Lord did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice.  Indeed, He will restore the years that have been eaten by the locusts!

Trust that the Lord will grant you great victory in your areas of weakness whether it be fear, fibbing, or uncleanness. And even if you fail, the Lord will uphold you by His grace, and times of losses will be transformed into times of gain. Because of Grace, Jonah had a second chance. He did not remain in failure and sin.

My God is the God of great restorations! Even performing miracles to compensate me for what has been lost.  Do not look back in regret to what you have done, for there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  Do not allow the past to bind you as the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. Who will bring charge against God’s elect? Proclaim to yourself:  The Lord will compensate me for any losses or failures as He is the God of compensations and Grace.  His unchangeable Word promises that past failures will be transformed into success in the present, and into even greater success in the future. The Lord changes the curse into blessing because He loves you.

I will not succumb to Satan when he reminds me of my mistakes seeking to put me down. The Lord is my glory and the lifter of my head! Because of grace, Peter did not breakdown or remain in torment after he denied Christ.  On the contrary, he rejoiced because of the work of Christ in him.  Therefore Rejoice! The Lord’s grace will turn around your escape and send you again to Nineveh. He will also give you a desire to reassume the role that you absconded. Elijah fled away from the place that he was called to serve the Lord, because he feared Jezebel’s threat to kill him. By grace, the Lord met him, told him to return, energized him, and uprooted fear out of his heart. And Elijah returned to the place of his calling!

- The Lord gave his people a second chance after they failed due to sin, and the temple was demolished.  The story did not end in failure, but success. They returned to Jerusalem and embarked on building the temple.  “Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, (success & glory) … Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build.” (Ezr. 4: 1, 4). Satan does not want failure to be turned into success.  He does not want you either to serve the Lord or to carry on with your work, but to ruminate on your losses. The Lord tells us to forget what lies behind for compensation lies ahead: Nineveh in place of Tarshish; the place of defeat will become the place of success.  Jerusalem that was torn down and burnt will become a place of glory.

- Watch out because bad news spread rapidly among believers. When Satan succeeds in perpetrating these matters, believers become discouraged losing their appetite for fellowship, and prayer meetings. Their days are thus wasted! The Lord said, I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly and richly provides us with everything. Fix your eyes upon the Lord and trust that the God of heaven will give you success so that you can help others. Be thankful for the chances that the Lord gives you to help. Your confession should be: in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Most of the time, the believer is a man of rest, just like Solomon. The difficult and sad times are temporary, passing away quickly. 

- Let’s proclaim our faith that, in the name of Jesus our enthusiasm to serve the Lord will keep increasing. Past failures will not cause us to panic as our God is the god of all encouragement who always lifts our spirits.

- David and his companions were weeping for what they suffered because of their bad decisions.  “But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” (1 Sam. 30:6). David trusted that His God is the God of restoration, who transforms failure into success, defeat into victory, and sickness into health.  If you are sick, proclaim that your great God is your great physician and the healer of your body.  Receive His power to heal you just as the woman with a discharge in her body was healed. Although she had spent all she had on physicians, they were not able to help her, but instead she grew worse. Power came out of the Lord that was compensation for all past frustrating experiences.  The Lord Jesus is alive, and able to heal.  He said, I am the Lord your healer.  His healing power overcomes sickness and removes pain.

- Let us not lose hope but proclaim our confidence that our Lord God is the God of success reminding ourselves of His words to Abraham:  I will bless you, … and you shall be a blessing. We will be a source of joy to our households and encouragement unto others.

From the sermon: Mercy unto Healing 28-4-2021