Your Failure Doesn’t Get the Final Word | Mornings with Mico

Yo people, what's going on, man? My name is Miko. We're continuing our walk through BT's sermon from this past Sunday looking at the scriptures, Luke chapter 22. Today we're diving into chapter 22 starting at verse 60. Let me just read 60 through 62. This is when Peter disowns Jesus, as Jesus predicted and told him that, you know, you're going to you're going to, before the rooster crows three times, you'll deny me and or before the rooster crows, you'll deny me three times and this is the passage as that plays, that speaks to, you know, as that plays out. It says Peter replied, man, I don't know what you're talking about. This is him talking to the, I don't know, the people who are accusing him of knowing who Jesus is, as Jesus is hanging from the cross. He says, man, I don't know what you're talking about. Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him. Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times. And he went outside and wept bitterly. And I think that this right here, like this moment, it just really just kind of exposes just, just, you know, something that we all wrestle with. And it was, and it's just like Peter's confidence in himself, as he was so confident, like, no, Lord, I would never disown you. No, Lord, this would never happen. And then in this moment, as it plays out, right, like he finds himself disowning God, you know, disowning Jesus three times, even before, you know, as Jesus predicted, he told Jesus, even if everyone else falls away, I won't, right? Like he was, he was confident that he wouldn't be the one to do that. But it wasn't, but a few hours later when fear took over, right? I don't know what that could be for you. You know, it could be many things for different people. There's fear, insecurity, whatever the case, but in his case here, it was fear that took over and Peter denied even knowing Jesus. After walking with Jesus for all of these years, after slicing off, you know, one of the, the guard's ears, you know, when they were coming after Jesus, you know, seeing Jesus perform miracles, believing

that Jesus is the son of God, believing that Jesus is the Messiah, in that moment, he denied ever even knowing him. And he did so three times. Then the scripture says, Jesus looked at Peter. For me, that has to be like the most sobering part of this entire passage for Jesus in his bruised and battered and bloodied face. Like right when you, you know, um, fulfill what he predicted, what he prophesied. And then Jesus is staring back at you. Like I told you, you know what I mean? And I don't know, for me, the weight of that is like, you can go one or two ways with that one. It's just, I think, you know, you can find yourself just like feeling low from that. You can, you can see this as the person who, who's like, who sees Jesus in his moment. It's like, I told you so. Or it's just like, man, like nothing that falls from his mouth is, is, is false, right? Like Jesus, Jesus made it clear to you, like in that moment, right? He made it clear to Peter, like, no, this is, this is what I was talking about. And Peter, you know, instantly realized, you know, Jesus was right. And he just broke down crying. I think, um, the sifting in this exposed something Peter didn't even realize was there, or at least he didn't realize how deep rooted it was. And it was this self-reliance, this self-confidence as believers, we're just called to have, um, a different source for our confidence, for our reliance. And it's not self, the world it's so counterculture because the world will tell you to believe in self and, and you, you know, we are gods or we, you know, just believe in yourself and you can do anything, just have faith in yourself or whatever. And that's just not as believers. What the Bible teaches is I love David. Um, just one of my favorite characters in scripture. And when he's going up against Goliath, um, he kind of, he, he speaks to the source of his confidence is people are like, well, you know, what makes you think you can go up against this giant? Right. And he says that, you know, um, the Lord rescued me from the bear. He rescued me from the lion. Surely he'll deliver me from the hand of this and circumcised Philistine. And I think it's like, no matter how victorious he was, no matter how many victories he had, he was clear on where his health came from. He was clear on where his confidence in his reliance lied. And I think just like David, Peter, he, he believed, or unlike David, Peter believed that his devotion was enough. He believed that his passion alone was enough, that his willpower alone was enough. Like a lot of us, we can still make that same mistake. But I think pressure, and it shows here

how pressure just has a way of revealing where our trust actually rests. And I think some of us, maybe more than others, can relate, and you know exactly what that feels like, right, the moment when you realize that I thought I was stronger than this, or I thought I already overcame this, or I said I'd never go back to this. For me, I think that that plays out in my own journey in a number of ways, but the one that comes to mind is when before me getting married and me walking this walk of celibacy. And for me, if I'm honest with you, I kind of wore that as like a badge of honor, like as if I was doing God a favor, as I'm the one who's, I'm going years without having sex. I'm walking this walk with God. And then I end up falling into temptation with this girl. We didn't have sex, but I would find myself like in this cycle of succumbing to sexual temptation with her over and over again. And then I just found myself just like, like Lord, just punish me. Just punish me so I'll stop, because I will feel so convicted each time afterwards. And I think that those failures like in that, like it was just so humbling. And I think that it was just like, like something that God began to pour into me is like, as he was saying, like,

no, I'm not gonna punish you. My grace will sustain you. And it just reveals to like, it reveals to us just this nature of God, where it's like, D'Amico, my grace is what has sustained you. It wasn't you in your own willpower. It wasn't you in your own strength. It was my grace that sustained you through your celibacy. And then even when you fail, my grace is your portion, which for me really just like opened my mind up to a whole different like understanding of who God is and how God operates, right? Like for me or for Peter, as we looking at him and his story, where failure wasn't the end of his calling, the same way that my failing wasn't the end of my calling. Jesus already knew Peter would fail and he still loved him. The same way he did with me, the same way he does with you. He still pursued him and he still called him. Conviction will tell you, come back. When you find yourself, you know, in these moments of failure and given into temptation or whatever it looks like for you, conviction is the thing that says, no, come back. I'm displeased with that, but I want you, come back. Condemnation on the other hand, that's the thing that's telling you, no, you're finished. It's over, you blew it. You know what I mean?

Go ahead and hang it up. Go ahead and throw in the towel. You might as well just go all in now. You done came this far, you blew it, just go ahead and throw it all away. Like that's what condemnation tells us. And it's imperative that we can identify these two voices and then we can choose and decide to lean into the conviction and recognize that that condemnation is from the enemy. That's not what God's voice is. That's not what my father's voice sounds like. He doesn't feel like this about me. He doesn't feel like I'm just a failure and I'm over. Like, no, like his, it's wild. Like his grace, his grace is what sustains me and his grace is my portion in it. I think too many of us, we live under the idea of condemnation and even in our failures, Jesus is actually offering restoration. Our worst moments, that doesn't cancel God's grace. That's actually what God's grace is for, right? His worst moments, your worst moments doesn't, it doesn't just remove you from your calling. Not in most cases, it doesn't remove you from your calling. It doesn't take you out of, you know, being in a position to be a recipient of God's grace. It's like, no, that's what his grace is there for because he knew you would fail in these moments. Your failure does not surprise God.

He's been aware of that and that's why he places his grace exactly where he knows you're going to need it. As long as you're still breathing, God is not finished writing your story. I hope that encourages you today. For me, that is, that's something that like, as God's poured that into me, that's something that he continues to sustain me with this understanding that God has, God has foreknown every failure I'll ever make and I've shared this time and times again, like because I've seen how God's hand has carried me in those situations and what God has produced in me in some of those failures, the humility that it produces in me, the view of God in this. in this way that opens my eyes to like his nature as kind and all-knowing and as all-powerful as he is he chooses grace in my moments in my some of my lowest moments of failure like it makes me that much more feel compelled to just love him and be grateful you know into growing humility and it's something that like I said like it's something that he's that he's poured into me something he's still pointing to me and it's because of that that's what I pour into others you know and that's why I'm sharing it with you today man so hope that blesses you hope hope that encourages you and as you student your one-on-one time with God today I want you to reflect on this have you been living under condemnation instead of receiving God's restoration can you identify some areas in your life where you're allowing shame guilt your failures to scream at you have the loudest voice and shape the way you view yourself or the way that maybe you even view others right can you identify some

areas of your life where that has the loudest voice and let's identify that let's repent from that and pray for us Lord you have the final say you have the final say in in our lives you know every mistake will ever make you know every every issue will ever run into Lord and you place your grace exactly where you know we're gonna need it in your perfect wisdom in your in your perfect power in your perfect will you say no my grace will lead you to repentance so we thank you that you are merciful to a gracious and that our failures don't get the final say in our story you do we surrender that to you we surrender our perspective to you and we choose to see it the way you do Lord proudest in your son Jesus