It hurts when we fail.

Sometimes we can’t bear the pain it brings.

But no matter how we look at it, when it comes, it will also be gone after quite some time. There is nothing permanent it this world. The only thing permanent is change. So, when we fail and feel the agony of defeat, look at it as if it is something that we have to experience in life and after a while it will be gone.

It will be gone depending on how we reacted.

Not at all times, we win and get what we want. Sometimes, we suffer from failures. Actually not sometimes, but most of the times. And having been defeated is painful, especially if we have given our best effort and yet it is still not enough to make it happen.

How many people who end their lives because of failure?

How many marriages are broken because of failure?

How many people lost sight and hope because of failure?

Its the agony of defeat that makes it worst.

The Bible says, “The light will still be with you for a little while. Walk while you have light so that darkness won’t defeat you. Those who walk in the dark don’t know where they’re going. “(John 12:35 ) If we were defeated by darkness, then we will be lost. This is so true not only in material life, but also in the spiritual aspect of our lives, we will not know where we are heading if we lost.

This is what we call spiritual defeat.

We have an enemy to defeat, but oftentimes, it wins over us. Oftentimes, we lost to Satan’s prey because of our weaknesses. And once we lost, we suffer from the agony.

But don’t worry, we may sometimes or oftentimes lost the fight, but the battle is not yet finish.

We still have a lot of battles ahead of us. Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

It will not stop until we are totally defeated so we have to be vigilant. 1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Rev 12:12  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

We are an unfinished work of God
Yes, we may sometimes fail and taste the agony of defeat, but that is normal. We are not yet perfect. We try to be perfect but failures come along the way. But those failures must not stop us from achieving what God has planned for us. We are all unfinished work of God.

Unfinished work means not yet done, not yet perfect, still under construction and needs a lot of improvements or repairs. We are such a work of God in progress and struggling to become what God has want us to become.

But being under construction, will make us a mess at times. But those mess are all part of construction. Once the construction or improvement is finish and done, then we can see the beauty and perfectness.

We may taste the agony of defeat now, materially or spiritually, but we must strive hard to finish the unfinished work allotted to us.

Paul says, Act 20:24  But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. He did not care for anything else in his life just to finish the course allotted to him with joy in his heart. He knows that this work is given to Him by Lord Jesus Christ and he intends to finish it no matter what it takes.

How much do we wanted to finish the work given to us?

How much do we wanted to make the purpose of our existence?

How much do we wanted to progress on the unfinished work given to us?

We are the unfinished work – and finished or not finished, when the right time comes – we will submit it to God.

The agony of defeat will be gone depending on how we reacted

The pain we felt will be gone soon depending on how we absorb it. If we are the type of person that is very sentimental, then the pain will remain for a very long time. But if we are practical and more trusting to the Lord, the pain will be gone soon. It depends on how we react from it.

Jesus wept because His friend Lazarus died. And as an example of the things to come, He raise his friend from death. From here, we learned that certain things in life can make us weep and feel the agony of pains. But those things are only temporary, at the end of thick dark clouds come sun’s rays. It is that glimpse of light that gives us hope and strength for every agony we experience. It is our faith in God and God’s mercy that keep us standing amidst the many difficulties we experience.

The next time we were knocked down, stand up and fight again – we still have unfinished business to attend to.