Where Are You? Finding Redemption in the Crucible of Failure

A long time ago, in a garden far, far away, a man and his wife find themselves in the midst of shame and failure. Let’s pick up the story as the man tells it in his own words:

“My wife and I are running now. We’re looking for somewhere to hide. My heart is beating extremely fast, because I’m scared that they will find out what we’ve done. I’m not sure whether it’s the fear that is driving me, or the self-denial.”

“’Wait, let’s hide in here,’ I say to the woman as we are almost out of breath now. We find some tall grasses and trees with large leaves, and slide in behind them. She starts to fuss with me about our coverings. We are naked now. Why didn’t we see this before?”

“’Look, here are some big leaves. Could we cover ourselves?’ Why would we do that? This was not something we had argued about before. ‘Because we’re naked aren’t we?’ She gets busy pulling off leaves and I start to try to patch them together using some vines that are nearby. We round up enough leaves and vine to cover most of our flesh, and my breath slows down a bit. We are safe, I think.”

“Suddenly there’s a sound. We can hear Him coming. What are we going to do? He’s calling for me. ‘Man, where are you?’ I don’t know what to say.”

“I don’t respond at first, hoping that maybe he’ll just walk past and enjoy the pure river water and lovely vegetation and the beautiful flowers. The Voice calls again, ‘Adam, where are you?’ His voice gets louder as He gets closer. There’s no place to go. I need to come out. But I am filled with shame. You see, I have dishonored His directions. I have failed.” (Genesis 3:7-10, my paraphrase)

This day that began so glorious and pure would end in hopelessness and shame. A perfect setting, a perfect relationship, perfect health with abundant prosperity, all destroyed by failure and selfishness.

Adam and Eve sinned that day in the garden – they failed miserably! They were given specific direction and were convinced not to follow it for their own personal benefit. This did not turn out well – failure never really does.

The Hebrew word for sin is Khata. The basic meaning isn’t religious at all, according to the Bible Project (n.d.). The word simply means ‘to fail’ or to miss the goal (Bible Project, n.d.). Adam and Eve failed to meet the goal of honoring God’s authority by obeying His one command. Ever since that day, failure has followed mankind like ravens picking at roadkill. Sometimes failure creeps in like a leaky toilet to ruin an occasion, and sometimes it rushes in loud and clear like a warning siren on a locked door.

How do human beings respond to failure? One research journal reported results of a survey on the subject which is probably obvious to most of us. People tend to not pay attention to failure in order to protect their self-esteem (Hou, Wang, Li, and Song, 2022). Duh!! How did Adam and Eve respond to failure? They tried to cover up and protect their self-esteem: they hid themselves and sewed fig leaves together to cover their nakedness (Genesis 3:7).

But there was hope in the garden! There was redemption in the crucible of failure! God immediately put a plan in place for restoration: God cursed the serpent deceiver but promised a Redeemer (Genesis 3:14-15). This plan for restoration from failure was so strong and convincing, even Eve knew it! Right away in Genesis chapter 4, she proclaimed that the Lord had given her a son, an heir whom she hoped would remove the curse of her failure (Genesis 4:1). We have the benefit of history in knowing that this would not occur for many years afterward. God would fulfill His promise and do this great redemptive work, but “in the fulness of time” (Galatians 4:4), offering the restoration from the failure of sin to millions more of us, because of His great patience and love (2 Peter 3:9).

Another familiar story of redemption following horrific failure is in the life of the apostle Peter and his denial of the Lord Jesus. We wonder how Peter could have done such a thing… But facing similar circumstances and fearful of death would we have been any more faithful? On the night of the Last Supper Peter was so confident of his faith that he declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.” The Lord Jesus replied, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows tonight, you will deny three times that you know me.” And Peter had rashly replied, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you” (Matthew 26:33-35).

Only a few hours later Jesus’ prediction was fulfilled. Peter did exactly what was described in the aforementioned survey: he tried to cover up and protect his self-esteem by cursing and denying that he even knew Jesus (Matthew 26:74). Can you imagine Peter’s guilt and shame when suddenly the rooster crowed—and the Lord Jesus, now a captive, looked straight at him with that sorrowful look (Luke 22:61). As Peter went out from the courtyard and wept bitterly, he must have thought his failure was final. When Jesus was led away to trial and crucifixion, Peter probably thought that any opportunity to express ask forgiveness from the Lord was gone forever.

But in the crucible of failure, there was hope in the courtyard; and later by the seaside. In His grace, the Lord had great plans for Peter. At the restoration breakfast by the Sea of Galilee, Peter was a special object of Jesus’ love. The Lord knew all about Peter’s thoughts and feelings of guilt, and the Lord knew exactly how to tenderly restore Peter (see John 21:15-17). Peter went on to be greatly used of God! His love for Christ led to sacrificial service throughout the remainder of his life—even to imprisonment and death as a faithful martyr.

The Bible is perhaps the greatest book ever written, because it tells the stories of hundreds of people like you and I, who failed miserably but who found an opportunity for redemption in the crucible of failure. We all have gained this opportunity as promised to Adam and Eve in their failure in the garden, that a Redeemer would come to restore humanity back to God. This Redeemer is our Savior Jesus. The example of our redemption is modeled in the story of Peter’s failure and subsequent restoration.

The prophet Isaiah encouraged Israel that God would be faithful, even after their own sin led to defeat and surrender. Isaiah was able to look ahead prophetically and wrote, “Sing for joy, O heavens! Rejoice, O earth! Burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted his people, and will have compassion on them in their suffering” (Isaiah 49:13 NLT). The Lord had not forgotten them, as the next verse suggests rhetorically. No, God had a plan in the midst of the chaos, and God provided redemption in the crucible of failure.

So where are you? Are you still hiding in the garden of shame; or in the courtyard of guilt and regret? What was once a place of shame and failure can become for you a beacon of hope and redemption! This is God’s promise, fulfilled in Jesus Christ and available today for you!

Sources:

Bible Project (n.d.). Word Studies: Khata / Sin. Bible Project.

Carter, T.; & Thomas, J. (2021, January 3). The True Failure Rate of Small Businesses. Entrepreneur Magazine.

Deane, M.T.; Rosenston, M. and Khartit, K. (2024, April 1). Top 6 Reasons New Businesses Fail. Investopedia: Small Business Blog.

Hou, Z., Wang, Y., Li, L., & Song, J. (2022). The impact of current failures on predicted well-being for future success: Different mechanisms of action in high and low self-threat situations. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 954583.