Thursday, August 7, 2003
Thursday, August 7, 2003
And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord!
This must never happen to you."
It was in 1915 that Winston Churchill's world collapsed. A military expedition for which he was
held responsible turned into a bloody calamity. He was forced to resign from the Cabinet. One
biography calls this period of his life, 'The Rise to Failure.'
"In the crucible of failure, Churchill forged some new qualities which became instrumental in his
success as the great Allied leader during World War II. But until he refocused his life, he was a
brilliant failure."
Nearly everyone who accomplishes anything in this world stubs his or her toe somewhere along
the way.
That is ok, because Jesus is there to pick us up, teach us about God's love and send us back
out into his mission field.
(Matthew 16.22
NRSV)
Gary Inrig in his book, A CALL TO EXCELLENCE, cites the experience of Winston Churchill.
Churchill was by far the most successful politician of his age in Britain. By his mid-thirties he
was already a roaring success. The son of a notorious politician, he had achieved fame as a
reporter and author. The principal subject matter of his writings was his own military adventures.
"Elected to Parliament at the tender age of twenty-five, he entered the Cabinet at thirty-one, and
at the outbreak of World War I, was Lord of the Admiralty and part of the War Cabinet.
Intelligent, hardworking, eloquent, single-minded, ambitious--the world lay at his feet. But
Churchill's world revolved around him as the sun. He was more interested in himself and his
own ideas than in anything else and his peers were reluctant to trust him."
Dear God, help me to learn from my stumbles in life. Teach me about your love everyday, so
that I may give it away. Amen.
