Growing up, I was known by my family as the accident-prone child. I was always playing outside or running through the house. Inevitably, I was the one who got a scraped knee or even a broken leg!
My mom never handed out Band-Aids unless we were bleeding heavily. “Toughen up!” she would say. We knew better than to cry about a scrape, and we usually bragged about the scar it would leave. Most of the time these injuries, whether big or small, came from my clumsiness. I often ran too fast and would hit the ground. Sometimes it hurt and left a scar. However, I never stayed on the ground where I fell; I got back up on my feet. I may have gotten hurt while falling, but I always got up off the ground.
A few days ago, I reached into the microwave to grab my reheated chili; and as I picked up the bowl, I realized with alarm that it was too hot for my bare hands. As I fumbled the bowl in my hands in an attempt to carry it to the table, I dropped it. It seemed to happen in slow motion. I watched the chili fly all over the table, chairs, and floor. To make matters worse, my dog had seen this whole disaster unfold and moved toward the massive mess that was dripping from the chairs and table and was pooling on the floor. I am sure she wanted to chow down!
As I wiped up the table and chairs, I noticed that they had needed a good cleaning long before this mishap. While mopping hot chili off my floors, I was reminded of why it can be a good thing to wait and let things cool down before we handle them. My clumsiness made its appearance once again, and I made a mistake.
The Bible says in Proverbs 24:16, For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again:… Many times, we make mistakes in our day-to-day lives. We can think about or say the wrong things before giving it any thought. Maybe we question ourselves, “Why did I just do that?” (I know I did when I picked up the bowl of hot chili!)
We all make mistakes. However, we do not need to dwell on the mistakes. We do not need to hang out there and complain. Instead, we can learn from our mistakes and get back up from where we fell. This just man fell seven times. That means that he kept falling, and he still got back up seven times. I believe this is a clear picture of never quitting. We are not in this Christian race to quit, but we are in this race to run. Hebrews 12:1 reminds us to …run with patience the race that is set before us… We can expect to fall from time to time and earn some scars along the way. This is not the end because the just must get back up and keep running!
With Heaven as our finish line, may we all remember to keep rising and keep running.
by Mandy Harper
