Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - The Day I Fell on My Face, Really

At a recent choir rehearsal I attended at my church, the time came for us to line up on the stage and take our positions for practice. In addition to our regular stage or platform, we have a large turntable that serves as the staging for our worship band. As I attempted to step down off of the turntable and onto the regular platform, I didn't realize that there was a black, wooden riser just beneath me. You can guess what happened next as I thought I was stepping down onto the platform. You guessed it. I caught my foot on the riser and had an unplanned, up-close and personal conversation with the floor.

Thankfully, I wasn't hurt by the incident and it ended up serving as a good ice breaker for the rehearsal, though I don't recommend that we use it every week. My experience with falling reminded me of how often we as humans tend to "miss the step" as we do our best to live our lives successfully, and I have also noticed that our responses to our "falls" are even more important than the falls themselves.

I wish I could say that the day I fell in front of the choir was the only time I have ever fallen or failed in front of others. But obviously it isn't. In fact, though I don't dwell on them, I can remember with much greater clarity the times I have failed more than the times when I have succeeded. Perhaps this is because we typically learn more from our failures than we do our victories. Here are some of my personal failures and a few lessons that came out of those failures.

A Baseball Player

As a baseball player at the age of 18, I had the chance to drive in the winning run in front of my home crowd after an incredible come-from-behind game in the American Legion State Tournament. Instead, I hit a weak pop fly in foul territory to the opposing team's first baseman. It was my last American Legion game.

• Lesson #1: Failure is an event, not a person. And unknown to me at the time, a Division 1 assistant college baseball coach was there as a scout to watch me play that day, and he later signed me to his team. It paid for my education.
• Lesson #2: God has ways of redeeming our failures in ways we could never dream.

Husband and Father

As a husband and father, I have failed so many times that it's hard to even know where to begin. But here is one example. Though I have been actively involved in public ministry since the age of 18, I failed in many ways to provide the kind of leadership my family needed for the first ten years of our marriage.

• Lesson #1: God knows where we are on the continuum of our spiritual journey, and He knows how to take us where we need to be. It is His kindness that leads us to repentance and true life-change (Romans 2:4 ).
• Lesson #2: We become like those we are around the most. Along with having an unbelievable example to follow in my own father, I have surrounded myself with men who are strong leaders for their families and I consider them my unofficial mentors. I am growing.

An Ambassador

As an ambassador of Jesus Christ, there have been times when I have faithfully delivered the message of the Gospel to individuals who were far from God. At other times, I have turned away or missed opportunities because of my own insecurities or lack of awareness and compassion. My father-in-law had a neighbor friend who was far from God. His name was Neil. Neil was a rough, tough former Marine and was in the hospital with major heart problems.

One day while my wife was in the hospital, Neil was there at the same time. Though I had only met Neil one other time and had never carried on a single conversation with him, I sensed God's Spirit nudging me to go and talk to Neil about where he stood with God. I ignored it. Neil died. To this day, I find myself wondering what God will say to me about Neil on the day that I stand before Him.

• Lesson #1: I am learning to make the most of every opportunity when God puts something in my spirit that He wants me to do (Colossians 4:5 ).
• Lesson #2: I am learning to not internalize failure but allow it to motivate me toward positive change and be prepared for upcoming opportunities to represent and share Jesus.
• Lesson #3: No matter what the circumstance, when we fall on our face, it ends up being the exact place where God chooses to meet with us and show us His grace like never before.