i get knocked down.. but i get up again

I'm not one to particularly enjoy figure skating, but my mom didn't give me much of a choice this evening. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for figure skating, however, I must say that the difficulty level intrigues me. How a girl can do the splits while standing up.. throws me for a complete loop.

But I digress..

Every time I see a girl about to go for a jump, I start to get nervous. Hours upon hours of work hinges on a 5-minute routine. Pressure?

But then you see the girl (or in some cases, man) fall.. And you wonder, could I get back up and keep going with the same enthusiasm.. the same passion.. the same yearning to succeed? Or do I just call this quits because I know I've failed?

I think fear of failure (or rejection) scares us all. I can remember times in my life when I chose not to live by faith out of fear of failing or being rejected.

And the reality is .. we will fall .. and we will fail .. and we will be rejected. But the truth remains: ...that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Phil. 1:6

Failing is a part of life. We have the hope, however, that God -- in His infinite mercy and grace -- allows it to happen to us for a very intentional reason. And since we're promised that He'll continue to refine us (upon our obedience), until the day He returns.. oh, the joy and hope we have that our failing goes on to serve a much, much greater purpose for our lives.