God Uses Even Those Who Have Failed
Today I want to speak to those who carry the weight of past failures, who wonder if God can still use them despite their mistakes. The truth is, some of God's greatest servants graduated from His most difficult classroom - the school of failure itself. When we look through Scripture, we discover that God has a remarkable pattern of taking broken vessels and making them into instruments of His glory. This morning, we'll examine three men whose greatest failures became the very foundation for their greatest usefulness in God's kingdom.
Consider Moses, the great lawgiver and deliverer of Israel.
After forty years of faithful leadership, one moment of anger changed everything. In Numbers 20, when the people complained about water, God told Moses to speak to the rock. But Moses, frustrated and angry, struck the rock twice instead. "Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?" he said. That single act of disobedience cost him entry into the Promised Land. Yet did God discard Moses? Not at all. Moses continued to lead Israel, wrote the first five books of Scripture, and his face shone with God's glory. Even his failure became a lesson for generations - that even the most faithful servants must honor God's instructions precisely. God redeemed Moses' anger and used it to teach us about reverence and obedience.
Then there's Jacob, whose very name meant "deceiver."
He cheated his brother Esau out of his birthright and blessing, fled in fear, and spent twenty years reaping what he had sown under his uncle Laban's deception. Jacob's life was marked by manipulation and scheming. But at the brook Jabbok, everything changed. When Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord all night, he emerged broken but blessed. God changed his name from Jacob the deceiver to Israel, "prince with God." The man who had spent his life grasping and scheming became the father of the twelve tribes. His failure taught him dependence on God rather than his own cunning. Every time we read "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," we're reminded that God redeems even deceivers and makes them patriarchs of faith.
Perhaps no transformation is more dramatic than Saul of Tarsus.
He didn't just fail - he actively opposed God's work. Acts 8:3 tells us he "made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison." He held the coats while Stephen was stoned. He breathed out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples. Yet on the Damascus road, Jesus appeared to this persecutor and called him to be an apostle. Paul's violent past didn't disqualify him - it became his credential. In 1 Timothy 1:15-16, Paul writes, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe." His greatest failure became his greatest testimony to God's grace.
Do you see the pattern? Moses' anger taught him and us about God's holiness. Jacob's deception was transformed into dependence on God's promises. Paul's persecution became proof of God's transforming power. In each case, their failures weren't erased - they were redeemed. God didn't waste their mistakes; He wove them into His greater purpose. Romans 8:28 promises us that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." This includes our failures, our mistakes, our moments of weakness. God is in the business of redemption, not just of souls, but of stories, of broken dreams, of shattered plans.
What failure haunts you this morning? What mistake makes you feel disqualified from God's service? Perhaps you've struggled with anger like Moses, or deception like Jacob, or opposition to God's work like Paul. Here's the good news: your failure is not the end of your story - it's raw material for God's redemptive work. The very thing that brings you shame can become the source of your greatest compassion for others. Your brokenness can become the foundation of your ministry. But this transformation requires surrender. You must bring your failure to the cross, confess it honestly, and trust God to redeem it. Stop hiding from your past and start trusting God with your future. -F.D.