SURVIVE SIN

King David failed in a big way: He committed adultery, and then he committed murder to cover it up. The amazing thing about this is that David was God’s man. Many times when we hear about a high profile preacher or spiritual leader collapsing in moral failure, we quickly come to the conclusion: "The man is a hypocrite. He’s a phony. He’s not sincere and he’s not a true believer." Sometimes that may be the case, and sometimes it may not be the case. It’s not up to us to decide. It’s up to God to decide who’s phony and who isn’t; we’ll let him make the call. In David’s case, God did make that call. He said that David was a man after his own heart, and that he had appointed David specifically to lead his people. That doesn’t mean that David was perfect; we clearly see this in his actions. David made some BIG mistakes. And, in this case, when I say mistakes I mean SINS. He out and out rebelled against what he knew was right. He knew it was wrong and he did it anyway. What we see in David’s story is that, just as no one is immune to relationship failure, no one is immune to personal failure, either. The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and that if we claim that we have no sin, we’re lying. Each and every one of us will fight and lose this battle more times than we care to admit. The question is not: Will you fall down? You most certainly will, because you’re human. The question is: Will you get back up? You may never commit the big sins that David committed, but that doesn’t mean that your sins aren’t just as destructive. If you don’t believe me, take a look around. See what gossip does to people. See what envy does to people. See what selfishness does to people. See what hatred does to people. Sin is destructive. It always has been, it always will be. It leads to nowhere but death, because the wages of sin is death.

This is something we need to be aware of: when you sin, others pay a price, too. When you lose your temper, others suffer. When you lie, others suffer. When you’re unfaithful, others suffer. As David began his little tryst with Bathsheba, he apparently gave no thought at all to the price that others would pay for his sin. “Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. (2 Samuel 11:2)

I would hope that none of you ever experience the despair that David experienced in the wake of his sinful behavior with Bathsheba and Uriah. But the fact is that we’re all human, and we’re all bound to fall at some point in time. Even a righteous man falls seven times. And though your sins may not be "as bad" as David’s — they are destructive nonetheless.

As ugly as sin is, it is not more powerful than God’s grace. You can be forgiven. You can survive the failure of sin. Let there be a time of confession (1 John 1:9), in which you take responsibility for your actions and surrender anew to the will of God. Let there be a time in which you reset your walk with God (Proverbs 24:16; Jonah 3:1), in which you pick up where you left off, in which you go back to doing what the Lord has called you to do. And let there be a time of concern for the needs of others (James 5:16), in which you focus on the needs of those around you. These three steps will help you survive the failure of sin.