IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START OVER

Sermon Notes, March 18, 2012

C.M. Pruitt

Pastor C.M.’s message Sunday was titled “It’s Never To Late to Start Over.”  His text was Job 17:11, “My days have passed, my plans are shattered, and so are the desires of my heart.”  Everyone fails sometimes.  You become a failure when you quit trying.

Possible causes for failure (from Proverbs):

We fail when we don’t plan ahead.  The old saw is true: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.  “A sensible man watches for problems ahead and prepares to meet them.  The simple-minded never looks, and suffers the consequences.” (Proverbs 27:12 LB)  A wise man makes plans, counting on God to direct them.  The impulsive person just does.  We need to wait for God’s direction.

We fail when we think we’ve arrived.  “Pride leads to destruction and arrogance to downfall.” (Proverbs 18:18)  The person who gets too big for his britches will be exposed in the end!  “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you do not fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:12, NIV)  And be wary of doing things on your own—even the Lone Ranger had Tonto.  “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22)

We fail when we’re afraid to take risks.  We don’t attempt a lot of things because we’re afraid of what somebody else will think of us.  “Fear of man is a dangerous trap; but to trust in God means safety.” (Proverbs 5:29)  The biggest failure in life is the failure to try.

We fail when we give up too soon.  Failure is the lack of persistence.  “A lazy fellow has trouble all through life.’ (Proverbs 15:19)  If at first you don’t succeed, you’re normal.  Try again—success might be right around the corner.  Thomas Edison tried 200 different filaments before he found one that would work in his incandescent light bulb.  We need to be like the postage stamp: it sticks until it gets there.

We fail when we don’t listen to God.  His Word (the Bible) guides us.  “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” (Proverbs 14:12)  God’s way is not our way: He says to give in order to receive; He says that to get ahead we must be a servant.  His ways our not our ways, but His ways work.

So how do we get a fresh start in life?  

Accept responsibility for your own failures.  Don’t blame somebody else. “A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful.  But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance.” (Proverbs 28:13, LB)  We tend to get focused on what happened in the past.  We can’t change or undo the past. 

Stop regretting and start repenting.  Repenting means to change directions.  “The sadness that is used by God brings a change of heart that leads to salvation—and there is no regret in that!  But worldly sadness causes death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10, GN)  Some things are only learned by failure.  Sometimes it takes pain so we learn.

Forget the former and focus on the future.   Not just refocus; forget.  Don’t let the past control your life.  “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)  Leave the past in the past.  What will you do about it?  For example, Peter denied Christ, and so did Judas.  But Peter was godly sorrowful and repented, and God used him mightily to advance His kingdom.  Judas, on the other hand, regretted what he’d done, and hung himself.

Trust God to work it out.  “We know that to those who love God, who are called according to His Plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good.” (Romans 8:28, Phillips)  Our lives are like a tapestry, and God is the weaver.  We see only the knots and loose ends, but the Artist is working on it to make it a thing of beauty.  All the people mentioned in the “Hall of Faith” of Hebrews 11 failed at one time or another.  But God was at work in each of their lives, as He is in ours.  “For if a man is in Christ, he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17, Phillips)

Anticipate what CAN be.  In Jonah 3:1—after he’d refused to go to Nineveh as God commanded, and had spent 3 days in the belly of the fish and been vomited up on dry land, “The Word of God came to Jonah again.”  God didn’t give up on him.  God still specializes in resurrection.  Spring is a reminder of new beginnings.