Out of the Ashes

All of experience defining moments at some time in our lives. Those moments, when we make the difficult choices, can make or break a life so we must choose carefully. However, I’m also a firm believer that every day brings fresh opportunity to start over and do the right thing. It may be difficult, it might be painful, and the path may be marred by the consequences of our previous choices, but we can at least start out wherever we are and trudge in the right direction. It’s easy to give up and simply concede, “oh well, this is my life.” However, that can only be so if we give into it. I also firmly believe that God is a God of second chances. That’s what salvation is all about. The very nature of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross acknowledges that we have sinned and fallen short, but it also offers redemption and the shot at a second chance, a new beginning. In today’s poem I have contrasted two key New Testament characters who turned their backs on Jesus during the same fateful night, yet their lives had very different outcomes. Those two men are Judas and Peter. I grant that Judas’ fate may have been an immoveable part of God’s plan, but choose to highlight the fact that his life was permanently defined by his choice to betray Christ. Peter, on the other hand, betrayed His master that same night. Yet, his life is defined by how he faithfully rose above that moment. In our own lives, we often have the choice to be broken by our failures or to grow past them, and through them. I don’t know where you are in the pile right now, but if you feel like it’s on top of you take heart. Your road may be longer and more difficult because of your poor choices, which is only natural, yet you may well be able to dig yourself out and make good. My point today is this: don’t give up, don’t give in. God is a God of second chances who, if we are willing to call on Him, will not forsake us. He offers hope … not only for today, but for a bright eternal future as well.

Out of the Ashes
Both men were friends of Jesus
each a follower of the Way
Having walked the path beside Him
until that fateful day
When their faiths would both be tested
to determine their destiny
And each would take his chosen place
in the pages of history
Their names were Peter and Judas
two of the twelve that Jesus chose
To be His friends and disciples
so the bible story goes
But something happened that day
when the path those men had shared
Diverged forever and led them
on journeys for which they were unprepared
Each had pledged himself to Christ
yet each in his own way
Turned his back upon the Lord
before the following day
Judas betrayed his master
and for silver sold Him out
While Peter three times denied Him
the last with an oath and shout
Each of them failed Jesus
and did so quite utterly
Yet that is where their stories
end in similarity
Judas’ failure defined him
as a vessel of wrath he became
Unto this day he is still remembered
and ever accursed is his name
But Peter rose from his failure
maturing into the cornerstone
That God chose to build His church upon
and the rest of his story is known
All of us fail on occasion
we’re only human after all
But we can still rise from the ashes
and live the life for which we are called
For even when we betray Him
God can turn our lives around
He can pull us out of the quicksand
and place us back on solid ground
Our failures don’t have to define us
they can become the stepping stones
God uses to change this world, and us
if we lay them before His throne
And allow the Lord to transform them
into God-given opportunity
We can rise from the ashes of failure
to fulfill our eternal destiny
By Frank Carpenter ©