Keep Pressing Ahead - Facing Personal Failure, Part 1

Adversity, challenges, and heartaches, well, they're difficult for all of us, but I think you'd agree that the hardest situation to overcome is personal failure.

When you fail as a spouse or a coworker, when you fail friends or parents, when you do something that in your heart of hearts you know, I didn't want to do that, I didn't mean to do that, and you just flat fail, what then? What do you do? Well, if that's you, stick around. God has encouragement for you today. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We are a discipleship-driven ministry on a mission to encourage Christians everywhere to live like Christians. Thanks for joining us as we near the end of our series, Keep Pressing Ahead. Over the past several programs, we've talked about how to face and overcome discouragement, opposition, and tough times. But as Chip just said, few hurts in life are as devastating as personal failure. So today we'll learn how to pursue restoration, and why with God, failure is never final.

So if you're ready, go in your Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 8, as we join Chip for his message, Facing Personal Failure. I want to talk to you about the adversity that comes through personal failure. The emotional pain, the spiritual pain, the relational pain, the distance from God, the guilt, the shame. When you know what's right to do, and you don't do it. When God speaks very clearly and says, this is something you shouldn't do, and you do it anyway. When you're in that journey and we're all, you know, some of the greatest people in scripture have made devastating steps of personal failure.

And no one's immune. In many ways, the journey of walking with God is three step forwards, and grace, and then a couple step backwards. And the way it often happens with you and with me is we're just normal, regular people. And every single day I'm going to have a thought, a motive, at times an action, and I sin. God speaks to me and says, do this, Chip, and you know, no. And when you sin or when I sin, and whether it's an internal motive or whether it's something I look at or something that I say or an action that I do, the Spirit of God will convict you. And you'll have this experience, you'll lose this sense of peace and connection with God.

And the whole goal of that connection broken is to let you know something's wrong. The Spirit act as an empire, an arbitrator in your heart. And so the moment you get that, I'm praying nine out of 10 days, that light goes on inside you, oh, Lord, I'm sorry. And you claim that promise if we confess our sin, He's faithful and just to forgive you your sin, cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

Leadership is broken. God still loves you. And then you kind of get back on track. And that's how it goes for most of us, you know, hopefully most of the time. But I'd like you to lean back for just a minute because I want to talk about how sometimes you end up in really bad spots. And if you don't understand how it happens, you'll get so used to it, you won't even understand why you're going through what you're going through.

Sometimes personal failures aren't so small, they're not so temporary, and we're not so quick to respond. The Spirit convicts and we just push it away. We pull away.

We drift. We harden our heart. Those occasional sins begin to become patterns. Relationships deteriorate. Guilt increases. Denial sets in. You start rationalizing what you're doing and why you're doing it. You blame other people. You find yourself unconsciously sort of staying away from people and places that bring truth into your life.

Begin to live a lie of secrets and lies. Your conscience, like mine, little by little becomes dull. And things that so clearly violate God's Word, they don't register hardly at all in your soul.

It's just a tiny little, dim, uncomfortableness. And then intellectually you rationalize it and I rationalize it, where we just decide that's okay for now. And we actually intellectually think we're okay with God and yet we feel that emotional distance from Him and if the truth are known, our behavior and actions are going this way and the truth and God's will are going that way. And then God does something because He loves you. David calls it the heavy hand of God upon His life.

See, when you really love people, you can't let them go their own way. And so God brings what I call the velvet vice of discipline and love into your life. And He is watching you and He watches me go into these sort of times of denial and these hardening of hearts and then He'll bring some financial pressure.

Mmm, that didn't get your attention. It might bring some health issues. It might bring a conflict in your marriage.

It might allow something to happen in the economy. He might give you a biopsy report that really gets your attention, either yours or someone you love. He might have one of your kids go through something. But I will tell you, He will bring pain and increasing levels of heat and adversity to get your attention. And then when He gets your attention and you start thinking, I wonder if God is trying to speak to me through all these things, then He'll bring truth into your life.

And depending on how long you let this go, you'll have one of these what I call vivid reality moments. And you'll just see yourself in light of who God is and His truth and you'll feel this sense of shame and guilt and I've blown it and all the denial goes away and you realize I have failed God. I've betrayed Christ. I have hurt people. And then this just overwhelming kind of sense of I've ruined this. I've ruined that. I've hurt them. Can God really forgive me? And depending on how long we can get where we're feeling like I don't think I'm eligible anymore and I don't know how to come back to God. For most of us we try to then work our way and do some good things and appease some things and then the patterns that are ingrained.

They just keep squeezing us and squeezing us. One of the greatest men in all of scripture was David and he sinned. He was at the wrong place at the wrong time and in an impulsive moment he had an affair.

And then to cover his affair and his adultery he had a man killed. And in one of the most intimate recollections ever recorded in scripture he shares about somewhere between a 12 to 14 month period when he was keeping this under wraps and he was in the velvet vice of God's grip. And he shares what it did to his heart and what it did to his body and what it did to his emotions.

And you can follow along if you'd like to to put them on the front of your notes. I read in Psalm 32 where David is talking about the personal pain that's come from his failure and he said when I kept silent talking about his sin with Bathsheba, talking about murder, talking about the violation of his conscience, when I kept silent my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. The adversity that God will bring sometimes will be very physical. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. God loves you.

He won't leave you alone. My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. He's talking about feeling depressed. No energy. I can't go on.

He doesn't like himself. Then verse five we get a turning point and it's the turning point God brought some of you in this room today to break out of this because he loves you. Then I acknowledged my sin to you. I did not cover my iniquity. I said I will confess my transgression to the Lord and notice what happened and you forgave the guilt of my sin. And so in a moment of time he realizes I'm coming clean. I see it.

I'm going to own it. I'm going to just get absolutely honest before you. Will you forgive me? He does. And then after that pain notice he talks about the path of restoration and he talks not only about himself but for you and me. He says therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while they may be found. The inference is there's times he may not be found. There's times where you can go into such denial and have such patterns that you won't hear God's voice later.

So some of you he brought you today to give you one more chance. Surely when the mighty waters rise they will not reach him. And then as he begins to experience this release the sense of forgiveness he says you are my hiding place.

You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. He's a king and he's going to have to face the people. He's going to have to own his stuff. He's going to have to admit he's committed adultery and he's a leader and then he's going to have to own up to murder. And he has no idea what the consequences of God will be. And then we get in verse 8 God's response to him.

And by the way it's his response to you. Because the reason most of us don't come out of these kind of times is down deep we feel like you know what I don't know how to face it. I don't know what to do. The consequences are so overwhelming and I can't make it alone. And God says I will instruct you and teach you in the way in which you should go. I'll be with you. I will counsel you with my eye upon you. I'll take you through this. I'll coach you through this. You can make it.

You're not the first person that's really blown it. But he makes a warning. He says don't be like the horse of the mule which have no understanding but must be controlled by a bit or bridle or they won't come.

Don't make me keep yanking on your life it could get worse. He says because many are the woes of the wicked but the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the man the woman that trusts in him. What God brought you into this room on this day to grasp at maybe a level that you never have is despite anything you've done secretly or in your mind or in your heart or in your behavior or what someone may never ever know he still loves you.

His unfailing steadfast loyal forgiving love. But the issue a lot in my life in the past has been how do you experience that when you know you've messed up? How do you get out of projecting and protecting and how do you get where you experience what David experienced? New life a fresh start. Turning your notes if you will because Nehemiah in this last section is going to be our model. He's going to show us exactly how to be restored and he's going to say in this passage chapter eight there's three conditions. He's going to say it's going to start with a return to God's word then he's going to tell us we have to respond to that truth and then he's going to say when you return to his word respond to the truth from the heart he says you're going to have to apply it to your life and when you do you can be clean and when you do he'll walk with you and when you do he can take some of the worst times of your life and turn them around. And chapter eight opens when the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns all the people assembled as one man in the square before the Watergate. Then notice who takes initiative they told Ezra remember he's the priest he's the teacher of the law the scribe bring out the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had commanded for Israel so on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand so so children that were old enough to understand as someone would read it and explain something what was going on he read it out loud from daybreak until noon as he faced the square before the Watergate in the presence of the men the women and the others who could understand and all the people listened intently to the book of the law and then they want you to get this picture there's about 30 to 50,000 people roughly and they've built this large platform because now the people that the walls are built the gates are there there's some alignment it's okay we need to fulfill God's mission and so there's this large platform and Nehemiah is going to be on it and I'll do my best to read the names that are very hard to pronounce for me of about 13 priests and from dawn till noon he's going to read out loud the Pentateuch or the first five books the law of Moses and so imagine 30 to 50,000 people out there and we pick it up Ezra opened the book and all the people could see him because he was standing above them and he opened it and the people stood up and it was on this wooden platform and to his right were Mathaliah and Shema and Ananijah and Uriah and Hilkiah and Maaseah and on his left were Padiah and Mishael and Majekah and Hashum and Hashabarada and Zechariah and Meshalem and all the people could see him because he was standing above them and he opened it and they stood up and Ezra praised the Lord the great God and all the people lifted their hands and they responded amen amen as they heard the word of God being taught and then they bowed down and they worship the Lord with their faces to the ground you're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram we'll return you to today's message in just a second but let me quickly ask you do you struggle to read and then understand God's Word if so join us later in today's program as Chip talks about our insightful resource called Daily Discipleship with Chip this tool has helped tens of thousands of people study the Bible and hear from God stick around to learn how to sign up well with that let's rejoin Chip for the remainder of his message and then the Levite so we have up here 13 on the platform with him and then I'm not gonna attempt to read the next 13 names they're even harder to pronounce but the Levites are the people that instruct people they're the people that help with the temple and if you list them what you'll find is there's 13 key Levite leaders and then notice what they do they instructed the people in the law while the people were standing there they read from the book of the law of God here's the key line making it clear literally the Hebrew word means to separate it means to break down it has the idea of translating of giving the understanding the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read so I put some notes together if you have a pen follow along let's just look at so what did they do first and foremost they returned to the word so what did they actually do they took initiative they took the initiative they said Ezra you've been here historically he's been there about 14 years and he's had Bible studies and he's been teaching but the enemies have been bad and the walls haven't been rebuilt the temples going kind of slow and so Ezra has been teaching but there's been no momentum there's been no traction there's been no we are the people of God and after 14 years and things are aligned they take the initiative and they say Ezra the book of the law would you read it to us we want to know God's plan so he does notice they second they invested time you know I don't know about you but when's the last time you spent six straight hours standing up in reverence to hear God's Word from dawn until noon third they listened attentively I mean this wasn't like okay we're supposed to do this you know a couple chapters a day or a few hours a day keep the devil away you know this this is like we want to hear what is God's plan what does he say so that's what they did now notice how they did it they came before God in families men women and those who could understand these parents understood that it's not enough to tell your kids what you learn somewhere else but when they get old enough to understand that what's going on they wanted them to see Nehemiah they wanted him to see the people they wanted him to see God's Word read and heard they wanted to be around when the Levites came because you get this idea that it was taught publicly and then there must have been some breaks for the Levites and the priests would go into the crowd and begin to explain it to them this is what it means this is how it goes and so they read the Word publicly you know at some point in time they just wanted to know what did God say then they explained the Word privately what does it mean I mean can you imagine they worshipped idols they turned away from God the heavy hand of God was upon the nation it was his discipline Hebrews 12 says all discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful but sorrowful yet those who've been trained by it afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness the proverbs and Hebrews 12 both teach that when we sin the discipline the velvet vice of God he brings consequences into our life to get our attention to draw us back to him and so the consequences were 70 years they went to captivity and then another hundred years they're kind of working their way back and so these are people that that don't they've never heard and they're hearing stories about the exodus and they're hearing stories from Deuteronomy 6 about love the Lord your God with all your heart your soul your mind fathers teach your children to walk when you rise up and when you lie down and they would read numbers they read the laws in Leviticus and for six hours they're hearing things many of them have never heard and then in these smaller kind of subgroups they're getting explained this is what it means then finally they worship God reverently came across a verse that is in Isaiah 66 that is very very powerful and it's written at a time when people were far from God and God says this is the one that I esteem these are the people that find favor in his eyes those who have a humble and contrite heart and who tremble at my word who tremble at my word who understand the God that spoke into nothingness and the galaxies came into existence is the same God who sent the second person to Trinity his son to be the living word and to walk among us and that he gave us his written word and that all scripture is profitable for doctrine reproof correction instruction in righteousness that the man of God the woman of God could be adequately equipped to live the kind of life that would enjoy God's love and fulfill his mission and Jesus would say that hey you'll never live by physical issues and physical fulfillment but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God and so when these people heard the holiness of God and his word they raised their hands and when they said amen amen they were saying we agree that what has been spoken is true from the high and holy God and then it says they bowed low and they prostrated themselves and they humbled themselves and were saying we're returning our life our dreams our values our children our family our money we're returning under the authority of your word and they worshipped I would ask you as we go to the second condition what would it look like for you to return to God's word I mean I would encourage you just go down through the list and say am I taking initiative am I investing time is there is there a level of attentiveness for some of you in families I'd ask are our families coming before God and his word corporately is my family coming before God's word privately in our home am I am I pursuing the understanding of God's word am I in some sort of smaller group community where it's explained and I can learn it so many of the issues that you face and I face are so far away from God's best for your life but if you don't know what his best is because it's in his word and you neglect it and you disobey you receive these consequences and these consequences this holy loving God will bring the velvet vice into your life to get your attention to bring you to a day like this to say stop turn around repent listen let me love you let me restore you before we go on I want to give you a chance right now to make a decision to turn around to stop to say to God I want to come back to you I want to be forgiven I want to be restored and I am aware that it's not just saying this but I need to go where you've told me to go you told me that your word is a lamp into my feet and a light into my path you have told me that I can't live by bread alone but I live by every word that proceeds out of your mouth I want you right now to confess to God even if you can't close your eyes and and pray out loud you can do it in your mind in your heart and he hears tell God that you have talked to friends you maybe have seen a counselor you maybe have read some books about your problems you maybe have done all kind of things but and not that those may be wrong but tell God you're sorry that you haven't come to him that you haven't got into his word David said in the midst of his most trying times if your word had not been my delight I would have perished in my affliction now tell the Lord I'm coming home I'm asking you to forgive me and starting today I'm going to get into your word let me encourage you to go to Psalm 51 it's after David's personal failure and I want you to read before you go to bed Psalm 51 every single night leave it open or put a bookmark right at Psalm 51 and read it slowly and out loud and remember that he failed miserably and God forgave and restored and called him a man after his own heart and then in the morning what I want you to do and it's only six or seven or eight minutes I want you to open up the book of Mark Matthew Mark Luke John it's the second gospel and I want you to just read one chapter every morning for about the next two or three weeks Mark in the morning Psalm 51 at night and say Lord strengthen me speak to me you will find new power and new energy in the midst of your pain return to his word encouraging words Chip thanks you're listening to Living on the Edge and in addition to the steps Chip just laid out let me point you to a resource we have that can also help true spirituality as Chip's popular broadcast series that walks through Romans chapter 12 now in this study you'll discover a clear blueprint to walk more closely with Jesus to listen to this series go to special offers on the Chip Ingram map or at livingontheedge.org well before we wrap up Chip's still here in studio with a pressing question for all of you thanks Dave let me ask you I mean honestly how important is God's word to you is it a daily habit or maybe just a passing ritual or maybe you're actually not in it for yourself at all do you know the Bible is the supernatural power of God and it's given to us to defend us against our enemy against lies and false thoughts in a world that bombards us let me suggest this most people I know down deep say I've tried reading the Bible and I just can't understand it well we're starting a brand new daily discipleship called the invisible war and it's not me teaching out there somewhere to some other group this is me speaking directly with you personally mentoring you in the Bible helping you open the Bible right from Ephesians 6 where it talks about spiritual warfare I'll never talk for more than 10 minutes and then I'm gonna ask you to give me 10 minutes with a very short study guide and if you'll stay with me for a couple weeks here's what I'll tell you you'll learn to understand the Bible God will speak to you directly and those thoughts that have bombarded you you're gonna see a new type of thinking and a new joy and a new love happen inside you because the scripture promises when we say no to the world yes to God renewing our mind tremendous things happen let me encourage you join me for the next daily discipleship Dave could you give them some information about how they can sign up be glad to chip well I can't encourage you enough to sign up for this new daily discipleship the invisible war by going to daily discipleship com as you and chip study Ephesians chapter 6 you'll learn how to defend yourself and fight back in this unseen battle again to sign up for this brand new daily discipleship visit daily discipleship com app listeners tap discipleship before we go I want to tell you that Living on the Edge is more than just a daily broadcast ministry one area that really weighs on our hearts is for hurting and discouraged pastors now every day all over the world we're inspiring these leaders to keep pressing ahead through helpful in-person training and insightful resources but to continue to do that we need your help if you can partner with Living on the Edge for a monthly gift of $50 we can support 60 pastors for an entire year our goal is to provide tools and teaching to 60,000 church leaders in 2024 so if you'd like to stand with us become a monthly partner today by going to Living on the Edge org or the chip Ingram app that's Living on the Edge dot org or visit the chip Ingram app and thanks for doing whatever the Lord leads you to do we'll listen in next time as chip wraps up in series keep pressing ahead until then this is Dave Drewy saying thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge you