I was so excited! The next September I would begin high school! Definitely
something to look forward to!
In those days in Belgium, elementary school ended in grade 5, and grade 6 was
located in a separate wing of the local high school. True enough, I wasn't
really in high school, but at least I would be in the same building. Yeah!
One month before our graduation from my elementary school, my teacher had an
announcement. He declared boldly that several among us had failed, and nothing
could be done to improve our marks. We were shocked. We stared at one another,
wondering: "Am I among those who failed? What about my friends?"
I, for one, felt very ashamed. I knew I would definitively be among those who
failed. After all, I had already had to repeat grade 1, and thought I had been
in Dutch school for several years, it still wasn't my native language. What
would my parents think of me for having to repeat a second year of elementaty
school? I definitely couldn't tell them about my shame.
And so it went for the next month. I lived between fear that I had failed, and
hope that somehow I would manage to "squeak" by. As you can imagine, my last
month in elementary school was completely empty of joy.
I still remember how nervous I was to open my report card on that last day of
school. But it had to be done, and with much fear and trepidation I pulled out
the page. I forced my eyes to see the word "fail"... But it wasn't there! I
had...passed! My eyes opened wide. I had passed! I HAD PASSED! And not just
marginaly, either. In fact, I had very good grades!
I quickly checked with all my friends, and I was relieved to see they had passed
as well. In fact, no one in the class had failed! For some reason, our teacher
had a sadistic streak; but I was too overjoyed to even ask him why he had said
these word that had so discoloured my last month in elementary school. Instead I
was filled with the excitement of knowing that come September, I would be in
high school. Bye bye elementary school for good!
This experience in my life reflects how the evil one works. He constantly
accuses us of being a failure, a no-gooder, a reject. Don't believe him! It's
all lies! Our Heavenly Father loves us way more than we may ever know. He
considers us His sons and daughters. That is most certainly not failure! If it
were, what a beautiful failure it would be, one that I would gladly embrace.
Unlike the evil one, God's Holy Spirit affirms: "The Spirit Himself testifies
with our spirit that we are children of God." (Romans 8:16, NIV)
Let us fix "our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy
set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God." (Heb 12:2, NIV2)
You are not a failure. Instead, you are a son or daughter of the Most High!
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
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