But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

“As a result of Achan's sin, God was not with the Israelite army when they attacked Ai. Joshua and the other leaders were humiliated and confused. When God revealed that the defeat was because Achan had sinned, the people repented, and Achan was killed for his actions.” [1]

“Then the Lord said to Joshua, 'Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land.”

Joshua had an incredible victory at Jericho. They saw the power of God bring down incredible walls and they just walked in and took the land. This gave them confidence in God and His might backing them. However, it also caused Joshua to leap to presumption and over-confidence in themselves.

The spies Joshua sent out that saw Ai thought that a small group could take the land so Joshua sent a small army of three-thousand to take the land and they were struck down. Joshua 7:5 says, “At this the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water.”

Often, the first reaction to failure is fear. We see our failure before us and we want to run away and hide. There can also be regret. We can say in our heart, “If I only didn't...”

Joshua cried out to the Lord, “If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!”

He is always with us and helping us, even in our failures.

The Lord says in Isaiah 41:10, “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'”

We can also catastrophize our situation and blow it out of proportion. Joshua tells the Lord as he tasted failure and was afraid, “The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth.”

Sometimes when we fail, this is all we can see. We can label ourselves as failures and wonder if there is anything beyond it. Rather we are to look at our failure within the context of the bigger picture. In this place, John Maxwell notes that putting it in perspective leads to perseverance. And perseverance brings longevity which leads to opportunities for success. [2]

When we feel like we are drowning and the waves are going to overwhelm us, we need to be reminded of who God is to us. Isaiah 43:1-2 says, “But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.”

Another response to failure is to become discouraged. One can begin to think that they cannot win and completely lose hope and just give up. We quit. Sometimes, the enemy can use tactics of intimidation and fear to get us discouraged.

An example of the opposition using tactics of fear, intimidation and discouragement is Sanballat trying to keep Nehemiah and the Jews from rebuilding the wall. Another example of this is in 2 Kings 18 where the king of Assyria sends his commander and chief officers to Jerusalem. They use fear and intimidation to try to discourage Hezekiah and the people and get them to surrender.

In the failure at Ai, the Lord responded to Joshua that it was sin that resulted in their failure and an inability for the soldiers to stand against their enemies. They needed to repent, clean house and get back in the battle.

The Lord promised them that as they got back in the battle, they would take it this time. I am reminded of Magic Johnson. I once heard him speak on success. He said that what led to his success was that he didn't give up and that he failed many more times than he succeeded.

Proverbs 24:16 says, “For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again...”

Jeremiah 8:4 says, “Say to them, 'This is what the LORD says: "'When people fall down, do they not get up? When someone turns away, do they not return?”

Magic Johnson learned from his failures and tried again. Like Joshua, we need to take our pain and discouragement to God and look for Him to give us His direction and wisdom. Sometimes it is our sin, sometimes other people's sin, and sometimes it is God working some deeper dependance and character into us.

Even when it is our sin that causes our failure, God is not out to punish us or cause us life long harm. During my annual CPA conference, the organizers often bring a speaker who had a significant moral failure in their past to talk about their mistakes and what they learned from them.

What I find interesting is that in some of the greatest moral failures and even people going to jail, when they truly own their mistakes and change, they are restored in some new way.  One of the greatest lies is that it is over, we blew it and we are beyond restoration. We think to ourselves, "I blew it.  Now will have to live with the pain of failure the rest of my life."

He is continually working good in our lives. Jesus takes our sin onto Himself. In Isaiah it says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” He restores us from our failures rather than condemn us.

This doesn't mean that we are to bury our sins and failures, hide them and not think about them again. Proverbs 28:13 says, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” What do we gain if we do not face them and take responsibility for them? Rather we learn from them and move on.

When the Israelites went into captivity because of their sin, they first acknowledged their pain and suffering and cried out to the Lord in it. Jeremiah laments in Lamentations 3:5-6, “He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead.”

But Jeremiah didn't stay in this place of despairing his circumstances. Rather he called to mind the goodness of the Lord.

In Lamentations 3:21-24, “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

It is in the light of God's goodness that we can learn from our failures and sin rather than fall into condemnation of ourselves, or blame, accusation and bitterness about them. We can forgive others and forgive ourselves [3].

Jeremiah writes in Lamentations 3:39-40, “Why should the living complain when punished for their sins? Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.”

In the greatest difficulty, Jeremiah did not blame the others around him in his community that did not follow God. He didn't point fingers at others as being the problem. Also, he did not blame the Babylonian Empire who forced them into exile. Rather, Jeremiah saw the hand of God behind it and looked to Him. This kept him from becoming bitter and sour in his tremendous loss and pain.

When we blame, accuse and find fault with others, the result is a bitterness of soul and a lack of growth. We also are tempted to fall into self pity and become stuck.

He took responsibility for what he could, he acknowledged his own wrongs, identified with his people in their failure and learned from failure. He looked inward and searched his soul then looked to God rather than to his outward circumstances. At the same time he did not condemn himself or others. Jeremiah lamented over his loss and then looked for God to bring him and the people through it.

In the midst of the great difficulty he proclaims in Lamentations 3:25-32, “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him. Let him bury his face in the dust – there may yet be hope. Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace. For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.”

Coming back to Joshua and Ai, we cannot sit in our failures. Once we have done the deep inner soul work of repentance and change, we need to move on and not allow our past failures to hold us back. We cannot wallow in our regrets, should have's, and would have's, etc.

Dr. Henry Cloud wrote in his daily thought, “To the degree that we judge our failures is the degree to which we are stuck.  Embrace them and learn... don't judge or condemn.” [4]

Don't stay stuck! Acknowledge and take ownership for your mistakes and then move on. Just like Joshua and the men at Ai, get right back in the battle.

Recently at a conference, Francis Frangipane noted that at a time he was feeling like a total failure, he felt God speak to him something like the following, “All I ask is that you love me right where you are at.”

Getting up doesn't mean our circumstances are going to change immediately. But right now, right here, all that God asks of each one of us is to love Him to the best of our abilities. That is getting up again.

John Maxwell writes about a previous saint Cabrini who had many disappointments and was dealt a difficult hand, “But she never would have made a difference if she had allowed her past to hold her hostage. Instead of lamenting the loss of her dream and the hurts of her youth, she moved on and did what she could where God put her. My hope is that you can do the same.” [5]

As we press past loss and failure, we can dare to dream again. John Maxwell writes, “if you know who you are, make the changes you must in order to learn and grow, and then give everything you've got to your dreams, you can achieve anything your heart desires.” [6]

Lord, help us to be resilient and trust you. In loss, failure and disappointments give us the wisdom and insight to see what we need to change, the courage to make the changes, and the heart to dream once again as we put our hope in You.  Most of all, help us to love You with our whole hearts right where we are at.

1. The Story. Lucado, Max and Frazie, Randy. Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI. 2011.

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2-3, 5-6. Maxwell, John. Failing Forward. Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN. 2000.

4. Cloud, Henry. The Daily Dr. Cloud. 7/29/14.