God Redeems Our Failures

I didn’t preach today, which gave me a little extra space to think and pray. In my personal Bible reading, I just finished the Gospel of Mark. As I came to the end, I was struck—again—by the story of Peter.

Peter was one of Jesus’s closest friends. He wasn’t just part of the Twelve; he was part of the inner three—Peter, James, and John. He was there on the Mount of Transfiguration. He was the one who walked on water. He was the disciple who declared at Caesarea Philippi, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus even told him that he would be the rock on which He would build His church.

And yet, Peter fell. On the night Jesus was betrayed, Peter followed at a distance. As Jesus stood on trial, Peter was recognized in the courtyard and asked three different times if he was one of Jesus’s followers. Each time, he denied it. After the third denial, the rooster crowed—and Mark tells us Peter broke down and wept.

That moment must have been unbearable. Imagine the shame, the regret, the disbelief that he had done the very thing he promised Jesus he never would. This was one of the darkest nights of Peter’s life. But it was not the end of his story.

What amazes me about Peter’s failure is how God used it. Before Peter could become the leader of the early church, he had to be humbled. Before he could strengthen others, he had to be broken himself. The same Peter who once swore he would die before denying Jesus later stood in Jerusalem and preached the first gospel sermon. The same man who once crumbled under pressure became the one who courageously faced persecution, imprisonment, and even death for the name of Christ.

God didn’t waste Peter’s failure. He redeemed it.

That’s one of the most beautiful truths of the gospel: God takes our worst moments and uses them for His glory. He takes our weakness and turns it into strength. He takes our sin and brings forth grace.

So often when we stumble, we wonder why God would allow such pain or disappointment in our lives. But perhaps, like Peter, He’s preparing us. Maybe He’s teaching us to depend on Him more deeply, to lead with humility, or to comfort others with the same comfort we’ve received.

Our failures don’t disqualify us—they can actually become the very soil where faith and maturity grow.

God can take your mess and make it a masterpiece. We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works (Ephesians 2:10). Even when we fall, He is shaping us, sanctifying us, and preparing us to be used for His purposes.

That’s the story of Peter. And, in many ways, it’s the story of every follower of Jesus.