I Want The Right To Stumble

We stumble from the cradle to the grave as we make our way through this life.
As infants, we stumbled and thought nothing of it. We had parents who loved us, dried our tears, and encouraged us to get up, and to keep going. We were not embarrassed; we were learning to walk. Direction did not matter much and we were not thinking of ourselves.
As teenagers, we also stumbled, but we looked around to see if anyone was watching. Our thoughts were all about ourselves. We were self-conscious and had problems with pride. Less people were around to encourage us, and more just pointed and laughed.
As adults, we still stumble; sometimes we even fall up the stairs rather than down. Of course, we hope no one sees us, because we are no longer supposed to stumble. Now, there are less people encouraging us to get up and keep going. Incredibly, some hope we will not get up and keep going. Perhaps they have forgotten what it is like to stumble. Perhaps they think stumbling is unforgivable.
Stumbling is not all there is to life, although there are times when it seems to be a big part of it. Sometimes, we stumble out of carelessness or not watching where we are going, or sometimes we stumble due to an inability to clear life’s obstacles. Sometimes we stumble while playing around and acting the fool; sometimes someone puts out an uncaring foot and causes us to stumble. Stumbling is a part of life moving in a direction… a sign of trying.
Everyone stumbles, but not everyone learns. Everyone falls, but not everyone get back up. Those who get up do not always keep on going. Perhaps reflection is needed, a new direction or maybe even a compromise. These are options, but getting up and going on is not an option, not to the believer. It is a necessity! The fool stumbles because he acts as if God does not exist. Believers understand that growing, going, stumbling, falling, getting back up, and going some more, depends on keeping our focus on Jesus.
Simon Peter, when he was walking on the water, saw waves instead of a loving Savior. He was concerned about going down instead of going on. Some may condemn him for looking at the waves or tell him, “I told you so!” He sank like a rock — but at least he tried! We often stumble in life because, like Simon Peter, we tend to see the waves instead of our loving Savior.
I want the right to stumble and you should as well, because it means retaining the right to try, and if you stumble… get up, re-evaluate, and try again. One new Christian in Africa, describing what it is like to live the Christian life, wrote this unique poem. — “Go on, Go on, Go on; Go on, Go on, Go on; Go on, Go on, Go on; Go on, Go on, Go on…”
Paul puts it this way; “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

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