Lesson 113: When I Fall, I Shall Arise
Kentucky Chaplain David Chaltas
The other day I heard of a man who had slipped and fallen into a mud puddle. Instead of getting up, stepping out of the mud, and attempting to wipe the mud off and allowing it to dry to shake it off, he simply wallowed in it. People came by and offered him help but he stated it was of no use, because he would probably fall back into the mud again. So he sat there in his own misery, alone and cold when all he had to do was get up, get out and get moving. As an old song once stated, “Poor, poor pitiful me!” Success is getting up one more time than when you fall. Opportunity is making the most of a bad situation and learning from your mistakes.
Thomas Edition said of success and opportunity: “If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is often a step forward.” “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” “Unfortunately, there seem to be far more opportunity out there than ability. We should remember that good fortune often happens when opportunity meets with preparation.” When we look at those people that have proven to be successful, you notice that they all have common characteristics within their being. They are determined to better themselves. They are motivated. They have a positive outlook on life and they have faith.
It is not a matter of if you fall/fail, but rather when you fall/fail. Each day we stumble. Each day we set a goal and fail to reach it with 100% accuracy. That is how we learn. We must remember that our mission is progress not perfection. Only Christ walked this earth in a perfect manner. Only Christ offers us joy, peace and life in great abundance; but being human in an imperfect world, we shall not escape failure and the sting of defeat. It is precisely at that juncture that we must praise God and get up, dust off the back of our britches, and continue toward our goal. Each day offers us a new beginning. Each day affords us yet another opportunity for success and to learn from our mistakes. Let us not dwell on those things that destroy but those things that build up and make us the children of a gracious God. All things will be revealed in good time. So let us endeavor to embrace life on life’s terms and rejoice when in the valley, so we can relish the mountain vista with a peace that passeth all understanding. For it is God’s promise to us. So many verses teach us to take courage. In Micah 7:7-8, the Holy Bible states, “Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.” He’s there for you, with arms wide open, for it is no secret what He can do. Won’t you turn all your cares, all your worries, and all your mud puddles over to His loving care? And you will find that He will do for you what you cannot do for yourself. With sacred principles to maintain, I remain your obedient servant in Christ, The Old General
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. [Phil 3:13-14]