The real Jesus is not for everyone. Only those who have known failure can know Him.

Long ago, I was driving a church van and was overhearing a conversation between a pastor’s wife and a woman in her church. The woman had shared with the pastor’s wife that she had known much setbacks and failures in her life. But God was good to her regardless and had been with her. And then she asked how the pastor’s wife’s life had been. She replied by saying that God kept her safe and watched over her all her life that she has never known any difficulty at all. Her life had been smooth sailing from the beginning. What she was insinuating was that God loved her so much that He did not let any hardship or failures come her way. (Wasn’t it a proof of God’s love for her that she was a pastor’s wife???)

Even as a young man, I knew it didn’t sound right. But now that I have a fuller knowledge of the word, I KNOW it wasn’t right. God’s way of success (true success) is through what the world would call failure. The cross of Jesus is the proof and demonstration of it.

“… Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Phil 2:5-8

It is in our failures that we are most like Jesus. (Remember, Jesus told us to deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow Him?) Then, why is it that all we ask of God in our prayers is for success, safety, and smooth sailing?

Of course, we don’t pray for hardships. We do not ask God to bring us to failures. That would be sadistic. But if we are brought to it, then we should be thankful. God is making us like His Son.

PH