The Facts of Life

“When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and when they turn back to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this temple, then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers.” – Excerpt from 1 Kings 8: 22-53

Today's Reading: 1 Kings 8-9; Luke 21: 1-19

So the scene here is that Solomon has just finished building the first temple for God. At the dedication ceremony he says this long prayer about the steps that Israel took to get where they are. He also reminds God of the promises that He made to Israel.

But the excerpt above is where it starts getting interesting for me. He starts to break down all of the ways that Israel will fail God in the future and asks God to forgive Israel if they return to the good path.

Given that Solomon was the wisest of the wise… this must mean something right?

Just like Israel… we will all make mistakes, stumble, fail, and let God, others and ourselves down.

This is just a fact of life.

But the key isn’t dwelling on this fact, but rather, that we have the opportunity to get up again. If we can focus on getting up, rather than on the fall, no setback will derail us for long.