Friday... You just get up.
What do you do when you trip and fall? When I was 5 my Grandma Williams decided that it was time for me and my 4 year old sister to get up in her small church and sing. She practiced with us and when it was our time to sing, I tripped and fell and then hopped over to where we were supposed to sing. That is one way to handle tripping and falling.
The writer of Proverbs in 24:16 (NIV) says, "The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked." Verses 15 & 16 in The Message says, "Don't interfere with good people's lives; don't try to get the best of them. No matter how many times you trip them up, God-loyal people don't stay down long; Soon they're up on their feet, while the wicked end up flat on their faces."
Don't waste the tripping and falling, get up and learn from it and make use of the experience. There may be something there to share with others who may also trip and fall.
There were two guys who really blew it, who really tripped and fell over in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament of the Bible. They were both followers of Jesus. Judas was one and he tripped and fell when he for money betrayed Jesus and led Jesus' enemies to where they arrested Him and finally crucified Him. Matthew 27:4 & 5 says, "'I have sinned,' he declared, 'for I have betrayed an innocent man.' 'What do we care', they retorted. 'That's your problem.' Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself." All I can say to that is, "What a waist."
Over in Matthew 26 another one of Jesus' disciples tripped and fell. He denied three different times that he was a follower of Jesus. Over in verse 75 it says, "Suddenly, Jesus' words flashed through Peter's mind: 'Before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.' And he went away, weeping bitterly." And after that he got up and became one of the great leaders after Jesus died and went back to heaven. He got up and made a difference.
Yes, we have a choice when we trip and fall. We can stay down and use it as an excuse to never try again or we can get up and learn from it and use it to make a difference.
There are so many who have tripped and fallen and stayed in the gutter but that isn't God's plan. He wants us to ask Him for forgiveness, even do a little crying and then get up and let God use them in the lives of other people, and by seeing God turn the bad into good.
Proverbs 25:16 (AMP) says, "For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, but the wicked stumble in time of disaster and collapse."
By the way, I have sung in church for 70 years. I got up and kept doing it instead of running away and never trying again. The NIV says, "for though the righteous falls seven times, they rise again." Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning
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