Max Lucado Daily Devotional

Begin again. Fresh starts require a determined first step. You can’t change yesterday, but you can do something about tomorrow. Put God’s plan in place.

God told Joshua to revisit the place of failure. In Joshua 8:1 he said, “Arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land” (Joshua 8:1 NKJV). In essence, God told Joshua, “Let’s begin again. This time my way.”

In the first attack, Joshua consulted spies; in the second, he listened to God. In the first, he stayed home. In the second, he led the way. The first attack involved a small unit, the second involved many more men. The first attack involved no tactics, the second was strategic and sophisticated.

The point? God gave Joshua a new plan. “Begin again,” he said. “My way.” When he followed God’s strategy, victory happened. And friend, the same will happen to you.

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Everyone stumbles. The difference is in the response. Some stumble into the pit of guilt. Others tumble into the arms of God. They make a deliberate decision to stand up and lean into the grace of God.

Just like you, the prodigal son was given an inheritance; he was a member of the family. Perhaps just like you, he squandered it on wild living and bad choices. His trail dead-ended in a pigpen. He fed hogs for a living. Then he made a decision that changed his life forever. “I will arise and go to my father” (Luke 15:18 NKJV)

You can arise and go to your Father! Maybe you can’t solve all your problems or disentangle all your knots. You can’t undo all the damage you’ve done, but you can arise and go to your Father. Landing in a pigpen stinks. But friend, staying there is just plain stupid.

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One stumble does not define or break a person. Though you failed, God’s love does not. Face your failures with faith in God’s goodness. He tells you what he told Joshua: “Arise, go. You and all this people to the land which I am giving” (Joshua 1:2 NKJV). There is no condition in that covenant. God’s Promised Land offer does not depend on your perfection; it depends on his.

In God’s hands, no defeat is a crushing defeat. “The steps of good men are directed by the Lord. He delights in each step that they take. If they fall, it isn’t fatal. For the Lord holds them with his hand” (Psalm 37:23-24 TLB). Miss this truth and miss your new beginning. You must believe that God’s grace is greater than your failures.

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Failure finds us all. Failure is so universal that we must wonder why more self-help gurus don’t address it. Bookstores overflow with volumes on how to succeed, but you’ll look a long time before you find a section called “How to Succeed at Failing.”

Maybe no one knows what to say. But God does. His book is written for failures. It is full of folks who were foul-ups and flops but got a second chance. David was a moral failure, yet he became a man after God’s own heart. Jonah was in the belly of a fish when he prayed his most honest prayer and then saw revival in Nineveh.

Perfect people? No. Perfect messes? You bet. Yet God used them all. A surprising and welcome discovery of the Bible is this: God uses failures.

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Jesus once went to the house of a little girl who had just died. Mourners were gathered at the door. “Why are you crying?” he asked them (Mark 5:39 NCV). When we see death, we see reason to cry. When Jesus sees death, he sees deliverance. That was too much for the people to take. “They laughed at him” (v 40). You’re not going to believe what Jesus did next – he threw the mourners out!

You know, God is still busy casting out the critics and silencing the voices that could deter you. Some of his work you have seen, most of it you haven’t. Only when you get home will you know how many times he has protected you from mocking voices of unbelief. He knows you and I are blind. I think that’s the reason he raised the girl from the dead. Not for her sake—she was better off in heaven. But for our sake—to teach us that heaven notices when we trust.

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God’s view and our view of death tend to be different. We see death as the end. God sees it as a beginning. From God’s viewpoint death is not permanent. It is a necessary step for passing from this world to the next.

From God’s perspective death is a small price to pay for the privilege of sitting at his table. The scripture says, “Flesh and blood cannot have a part in the kingdom of God…This body that can be destroyed must clothe itself with something that can never be destroyed” (1 Corinthians 15:50, 53 NCV).

In other words, we must die for our body to be exchanged for a new one. So from God’s viewpoint death is not to be dreaded; it is to be welcomed.

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A prisoner carved these words on the wall of a concentration camp: I believe in the sun, even though it doesn’t shine. I believe in love, even when it isn’t shown. I believe in God, even when he doesn’t speak. What eyes could have seen good in such horror? There is only one answer: eyes that chose to see the unseen.

As the apostle Paul wrote, “We set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time, but what we cannot see will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NCV). Jesus asks us to make a choice. Either to live by the facts or to see by faith. When tragedy strikes, we are left to choose what we see. We can see either the hurt or the Healer. The choice is ours.

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Jesus and Jairus are interrupted by emissaries from his house. “Your daughter is dead,” they said.” “There is no need to bother the teacher anymore. But Jesus paid no attention to what they said…” (Mark5:35-36). I love that line! It describes the critical principle for seeing the unseen: Ignore what people say. Close your ears. And, if you must, walk away.

Ignore the ones who say it’s too late to begin again. Turn a deaf ear toward those who say you aren’t smart enough, fast enough, tall enough, or big enough. Faith sometimes begins by stuffing your ears with cotton. Jesus turns immediately to Jairus and pleads, “Don’t be afraid; just believe” (v 36). And Jesus compels Jairus to see the unseen. When Jesus says, “just believe” he is imploring, “Don’t be afraid; just trust.” Is he saying the same words to you?

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We are blind, blind to the future. Just ask Jairus. He is the leader of the synagogue, the most important man in the community. But the Jairus in this Bible story is not the clear-sighted, black-frocked civic leader. He is, instead, a blind man begging for a gift. He falls at Jesus’ feet, saying, “My daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so she will be healed and will live” (Mark 5:23 NCV).

You know, there are times in life when everything you have to offer is nothing compared to what you are asking to receive. The situation is starkly simple: Jairus is blind to the future, and Jesus knows the future. So Jairus asks for help. And Jesus, who loves to give new beginnings, goes to give it. He’ll do the same for you. Do you face an uncertain future? Ask Jesus to help you.

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How did Jesus endure the terror of the crucifixion? He went first to the Father with his fears. He modeled the words of Psalm 56:3 (NLT): “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.” Do the same with yours. And be honest. Do what Jesus did – open your heart. And be specific; Jesus was. “Take this cup,” he prayed. Share the details. God has plenty of time. He also has plenty of compassion, he doesn’t think your fears are foolish or silly, he knows how you feel, and he knows what you need.

In the case of Christ God did not take away the cross, but he took the fear. Who is to say he won’t take away your fear? Please don’t measure the size of the mountain; talk to the One who can move it. Hope is just a look away. Now, what were you looking at?

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