Does God let us fail?

from the old testament

• Even when God allows us to fail, He promises that He will get us through it: "The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand" (Psalm 37:23-24).
• Life includes failure, but the good news is that God is our strength: "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever"  (Psalm 73:26).
• Because believers rely on the Lord, they persevere even after failure: "for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity" (Proverbs 24:16).

from the new testament

• God sometimes allows hardship into our lives, including failure, to bring us back to Him when are plans do not align with His will (Hebrews 12:6).
• We should expect to "fail" by the world's standards because the world reviles Christians. Jesus warned His disciples, "If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (John 15:19).
• God allows us to fail to show the foolishness of the world. 1 Corinthians 1:27 says that "God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong." Many in the Jewish community during Paul's time likely viewed him as a failure because he went from being a well-regarded Pharisee to a persecuted Christian (Philippians 3:5; 2 Corinthians 11:23–28). Yet he wrote, "I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
• God's power is often shown through our weakness. Believers' strength is in Christ, not ourselves. In Him, we will ultimately be victorious in eternity. Paul identifies the key to being "content" even when he is "brought low" (Philippians 4:11, 12): "I can do all things through him who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).
• God may also allows failure into our lives to strengthen our character. James wrote, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2-4).
• Sometimes we fail spiritually by sinning. But even when that happens, God calls us to be restored by confessing our sins to Him. He promises to forgive us (1 John 1:9).

implications for today

A red "F" on a paper, losing a job, giving into cake (again) instead of sticking to your diet—failure can be disheartening. It may make you want to give up. Some may wonder why God would even allow it. Scripture gives us the answer: for our good and for His glory.

Change doesn't happen without challenge. Sometimes, we're so beaten down by failure that we don't see the benefit; we don't realize how God is using it in our lives. This is when we must turn to God in prayer. We ask Him what He wants us to learn from our failure and ask Him to reveal to us the path forward. We can't get so beat down that we wallow in shame or guilt and bring others down with us. Instead, every failure is an opportunity to turn to Him, quicker and stronger, and to let His goodness shape our next steps.

And, of course, we should put pride aside. Sometimes, the world considers us failures, but we can stand confident because we are walking in God's plan for us. Though others may consider what we are doing with our lives as failures, following God is where true life and flourishing happens. We should not be ashamed. Believers should resist the temptation to get out of step with God's plan. He is walking with us on the narrow road that leads to eternal life.