For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:10-11
I wish I could take credit for this wise proverb, but I cannot. The thought process involved is worth the effort. The reality is that we all will stumble and fall in our walk with the Lord. Paul expressed this truth unmistakably in Romans 3:23 saying “For all have sinned (past tense-TH) and fall short (present tense-TH) of the glory of God.” John also indicated our continued struggle with sin and need for the Lord’s gracious forgiveness, which is granted by the blood of our Advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 1:7-2:2).
While we can never excuse our failures, we can use them to grow and be more faithful in the future. We must be willing and put forth the effort to learn the sometimes-painful lessons if we are to successfully bring about these ends. The pain of the Lord’s rebuke is, as shown in the passage from Hebrews above, for our ultimate good as it reshapes our character. Jesus’ post-resurrection interaction with Peter displays this painful yet fruitful process in stark clarity (John 21:15-19).
When we read of Peter’s life in the gospels, we see a man who was highly dedicated, but we also see a man who lacked the wisdom at times to make the best use of his dedication. He was often quick to make bold declarations or bold moves, and it sometimes got him into trouble. The Lord had to set him straight when he zealously vowed not to let Jesus be abused and murdered (Matthew 16:21-23). Though well intended, if Peter got his way, the necessary work Jesus came to do would never have been completed. Another example of Peter getting ahead of himself was in his bold declaration that, unlike the other disciples, he would not forsake Jesus in His time of trouble (Matthew 26:30-35). The Lord once again had to correct Peter’s faulty understanding, this time about his own strength.
When the time of trial came, Peter folded just as Jesus said he would. Peter was certain he had the strength to stay true to the Lord even if the other apostles lacked that strength, but he overestimated himself (cf. Romans 12:3). In John 21:15-19, Jesus put Peter through a painful but profitable training exercise. In asking him three separate times if he loved Him, Peter was brought low. Nonetheless, this was the catalyst that propelled Peter to spiritual heights he never would have known. It is no wonder he would later encourage scattered Christians to humble themselves under God’s mighty hand that He may exalt them in due time (1 Peter 5:6).
You and I will undoubtedly fall into some of these same traps from time to time. We cannot allow those failures to give rise to further failures. We must accept the Lord’s chastening, be that by guilt, shame, facing correction from a brother or sister, natural consequences, etc. and allow it to do its work of yielding “…the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11). In short, when you fall down, pick something up!