Is Failure Final?

Some of our youth have made some amazing plans for this summer. When I finished grade 13, I always wanted to take a wilderness canoe trip to Temagami. I didn’t get to do it, but I heard of two friends who did. They paddled all afternoon the first day until the sun was low in the sky. Because they wanted to get to the next lake to make camp, even though it would take two trips with their gear, they started a long portage through the woods. Halfway through their first trek, they came across an extensive blow-down, - a great swath of trees knocked down by a windstorm. Even with a canoe on their shoulders, they managed to pick their way over and under and around the fallen trees and make it to the next lake.

But it was almost dark, and they had to get the other canoe and the rest of the gear. They figured the second trip would be easier, so they soon plowed their way back to the blow-down.
After a bit, one of the friends said, "I think we’re off the trail." They thought about going back to where they had started, but in a minute the going seemed a little easier. "Aah! Let’s keep going," said his partner. "The trail’s to our right. We’ll cut back to it later."
As they blundered on through the darkening maze of bush, they both had a sick feeling in the pits of their stomachs. They knew they were lost, but didn’t want to admit it. They floundered and thrashed some more, then arrived in a swamp, with no idea where the lake was, or where they had started.

Just a little while before, they were having the time of their lives. Now they were lost, alone, in a strange bush, and off the trail.

One of them said, "Let’s get out the compass." They did, and they set their bearings for the northeast. Eventually they stumbled through the bush on to the lake that they had been looking for. It was late that night before they had a fire going and some food in their stomachs, and they were able to reflect on what they’d learned that day.

Lesson one: If you lose the trail, go back to where you last had your bearings.
Lesson two: When in doubt, get out the compass.
Lesson Three: Believe the compass.

For them, getting off that Temagami trail led to nothing more serious than some panicky moments and some needless bushwhacking. But for others who get lost in the woods? Well, it’s a much more frightening experience that sometimes ends in disaster.

With the help of Pastor Bryan Wilkerson I want to think about this passage that we just read about Abram. Abram’s journey got off to a great start. Why is he travelling? Because he heard God’s call on his life. The first thing he did was build an altar to worship the God who brought him there. But halfway along, he comes across a blow-down. It was a famine, probably the first famine he’s ever had to deal with. He’s a rich city boy, from downtown Ur. Now a stranger in a strange land, he’s got people and livestock counting on him for food.

Have you noticed it in your own life? When you make a decision to follow God’s way, you are not exempt from something going wrong. It may be some setback, some temptation, some pressure point on your life. Does God do that? Does God tumble down trees onto our pathway to make our life difficult? He doesn’t have to. Because life is tough enough. Things happen. But when they do happen, they become opportunities for us to come to know God, to trust God and to love him. God will meet us in those circumstances. When God meets us where we are, sometimes lost in the woods of indecision and confusion, God reveals his character to us. And God shapes our characters so that we’re prepared for the future to which he is calling us.
There is no indication in this story that God sent the famine. But because it happened, it was Abram’s first chance in this new land to trust God to provide what he needed. So what does Abram do? "Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while, because the famine was severe."
Look, there’s more going on than a traveller running to the next town to buy groceries. Instead of trusting God to provide in Canaan, he chooses to go to Egypt, that great enemy of God’s people, that place of great flamboyant wickedness. That’s where he left the path. And that’s where he got into trouble. Because he simply traded one bad problem for an even worse problem.

Sarah was Abram’s stunning trophy wife. Not only that, she was a foreign woman who was herself independently wealthy. So in Egypt, she would be a handsome addition to Pharaoh’s harem. But if Pharaoh knew that Sarah was Abram’s wife, he would kill Abram to get her. On the other hand, if Pharaoh thought that Sarah was Abram’s sister, he could take Sarah, and leave Abram alone. He might even be nice to Abram.

So Abram cooks up this scheme. "Sarah," he says, "tell everybody you’re my sister. Then I’ll be treated well for your sake, and my life will be spared because of you." Nice guy, huh?
Well, at first it works. Pharaoh showers Abram with gifts. But Sarah suffers violation, disgrace and humiliation. As always, the truth comes out, and Abram runs for his life. Instead of trusting God to provide, Abram takes off to enemy territory. Instead of trusting God to protect him, he comes up with this sister act to save his skin. And did you notice? How long has it been since Abram has worshipped?

"Abram, what are you thinking? The journey began so well. You began with faith, and courage and obedience to God. No deception, manipulation, and using people. What were you thinking?"
But turn the questions on ourselves. How many times do we come to some blow-down, some disappointment, some perplexing circumstance. And instead of trusting God, we flounder off in search of a better way, sometimes in direct violation of what we know to be God’s way?
Does anybody get lost all at once? No. It happens one step at a time on the trail. It happens one wrong turn at a time on the road. I need the job, or the grades so I lie on the application or cheat on the exam. Soon I’m deceiving other people. Before I know it, I’m in enemy territory, and others around me are in trouble.

Who was it who said, "All of us are like sheep. We have gone astray. Everyone of us has turned to his or her own way." That’s God speaking through Isaiah. Is it deliberate sometimes? At other times, doesn’t it happen before we realize it? Either way, what does it lead to? It leads to hurt and heartache for us and for everyone involved. It’s a dead end. It’s toxic.

But do you know what else Abram discovered? Egypt doesn’t have to be the trainwreck that ends the journey. It took him a while, but eventually, he made his way back to the trail. He came back to where he had lost his bearings. There he called on the Lord. I wonder what he prayed. Do think his prayer might have been a simple, "I’m sorry Lord! I’m so sorry!"

You see, the wonderful thing about this journey is that we can never wander beyond the reach of God. There’s always a way back to the path. It’s the way of repentance. It’s the way of confessing to God our sinful mistakes. It’s the way of receiving God’s forgiveness made possible through the cross of Jesus. It’s the way of setting out again on the path that God has mapped out for us.

God does not spare us the natural and painful consequences of our mistakes. But by God’s grace, he is able to restore us to a right relationship with him. He will set our feet on the path that leads to a life of blessing.

With God failure is never final. Failure is never final. No sin is unforgivable. No mistake is irredeemable.

Remember the two canoeists?

Lesson one: If you lose the trail, go back to where you last had your bearings. Do we sometimes need to admit we are lost, that we’ve wandered off the path? Has it been for a long time? Did you think it was just a minor detour? Don’t take another step in the wrong direction. Don’t waste another day. Go back to where you last had your bearings, and call on God. He will forgive.

Lesson two: When in doubt, get out the compass. Every last one of has come up against some kind of blow-down on the trail. It can be discouraging. It can be a time of panic. Get out the compass. Come back to God’s Word. Make a fresh commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Renew your fellowship with God’s people here at church.

Lesson three: Believe the compass. Commit your life in simple trust to the goodness of the God who so loves you. He has given us the path of life in Jesus Christ. Trust him. His way will take you to the life that he has promised.