I had the best math teacher when I was in high school. She was really good to me; helped me with my work, encouraged me, and was just all around great person. I did something in one of her classes in my junior year that was very out of character for me. She passed out a test, and I decided to cheat.
Maybe I wasn’t confident enough in my own capabilities or maybe I just didn’t study for it. As I looked over on my neighbors test I began to copy down all of his answers. Then the unthinkable happened. As my teacher took the test back she announced to the class that each row had gotten a DIFFERENT test with different questions on it. So the answers on my test reflected my neighbors questions. I was royally screwed. I knew I would get caught.
I went home that day, and decided not to go to school the next day because I was afraid to face my teacher. The next day I complained of an illness (which was a lie), and stayed at home. I can’t remember what happened in the course of that day, but I do remember being tipped off by someone else saying that others had been caught and my teacher new I had cheated. In the words of Styx:
The jig is up, the noose is out
They finally found me
I had to come clean with my parents. My dad was outside and I went out, sat on the front porch and told him I needed to talk. Then I cried. Not a little cry, but a big cry. I’ll never forget what happened after I told my dad what I did. As he saw the level of remorse on my face, he put his arm around me and told me everything is going to be ok and I would get through this.
He told me I had to go back to school tomorrow and face whatever punishment they deemed necessary. But, in that moment he expressed so much love and grace that it made me feel ok. The grace he showed me actually made it easier for me to come clean at school. Knowing that I had the love of my father in a time where I had messed up had made such a difference.
There are more stories like this in my life than I care to admit, but for some reason my mind went back to this one this week. I didn’t deserve that love he gave me because I had messed up. That one action could have done harm to my grades, future college, and broke trust with my teachers. In the moment grace is what I needed. I needed the love of my father. Nothing meant more to me than to know that my daddy loved me even in my weakness and failure.
This is an example of earthly grace, but what about heavenly grace? Lately, when I read the Bible I think this message is too good to be true. How is it that God can love me and nothing can come between that love (Romans 8:39). There is nothing that can stop him from loving me. In all of my sins, weaknesses, failures, God will not stop loving me. I didn’t know how my father would react to my failure, but we do know how God acts in response to our failure. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
The post God and failure appeared first on lukeroland.com.
