3月26日
标 题： 面对失败
经 节： 耶稣对他们说：“你们都要跌倒了，因为经上记着说：我要击打牧人，羊就分散了。”（马可福音十四章27节）
当你跟随耶稣，你会面对许多心灵剧痛的时刻。有时，每件事情的发生都好像同谋整你，破坏你与祂的关系。你不是肇事者，但环境中兴起许多反对势力。无论如何，失败是最终的结果。在耶稣被捕、钉十字架的那个夜晚，门徒在主面对如此凶暴的反对势力时，他们全都抛弃了耶稣。
彼得自夸决不背弃耶稣（马可福音十四：29～31）。然而，耶稣甚至在事前就向门徒担保整件事是不可避免的。圣经早已预言，神老早知道门徒会抛弃祂的爱子，祂一点也不诧异。祂已为他们的弱点作好准备，知道祂终究会培育他们成为使徒，敢放胆传福音、行神迹，并且教导他人。后来，当复活的主在海边遇见彼得时，祂没有要求彼得认罪悔改，祂要他表白对祂的爱（约翰福音廿一：15～17）。
你可能会害怕自己的罪令神大吃一惊。也许你曾像彼得保证自己与神站在同一边，却是失败了。神知道你会背弃祂，就像当初知道第一代使徒会背弃自己。当你失败时，祂的恩典够你用。不要以为自己的失败比较大或是过于复杂，以致神不能处理。如果你所面对的挑战，似乎过于自己能担当，不要丧胆，神早已预见你的困难，也为你预备了出路（哥林多前书十：13）。
Facing
Failure
Then
Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this
night, for it is written. . .” (Mark 14:27)
As you follow Jesus you will face moments
of great distress. At times it will seem that events conspire to cause you to
stumble in your relationship with Him. You do not initiate them, but they arise
from opposition or the intensity of your circumstances. Nevertheless, failure
is the end result. The disciples faced such fierce opposition to their Lord
that they all failed Him on the night Jesus was crucified.
Peter boasted that he was incapable of
forsaking Jesus (Mark 14:29–31). Yet Jesus assured the disciples even before
their failure that it was inevitable. The Scriptures had prophesied it. God
always knew the disciples would fail His Son; He wasn’t caught by surprise. He
had made provision for their shortcomings, knowing He would eventually develop
them into apostles who would fearlessly preach the gospel, perform miracles,
and teach others. Later, when the risen Christ encountered Peter on the
seashore, He did not ask Peter for a confession of his sin, but a confession of
his love (John 21:15–17).
You may fear that your failure has caught
God by surprise. Perhaps you promised, like Peter, to stand with the Lord, but
you failed. God was just as aware that you would fail Him as He was with the
original disciples. He has made provision to respond every time you stumble.
Don’t think that somehow your failures are bigger or more complex than any God
has dealt with. If you are facing challenges that seem overwhelming, don’t be
discouraged. God has already foreseen them and prepared for them (1 Cor.
10:13).
