How many times have I wanted to go back into a moment where I failed? If I’m honest, too many to count. I’ve said words I couldn’t retake. I’ve done disgraceful things that I wish I could undo. And I’ve entertained wrong thoughts long enough that I eventually played them out. Following my failure, the power-punch twins of profound regret and shame usually follow. In these times, I instinctively want to run away from God instead of toward Him.

Yet as the mother of five children, I remember the days when they would fall and skin their knees. With their sweaty, puppy-dog smell, they would run to their mama for comfort and healing. I couldn’t imagine pushing them away because they were bloody and smelly. Instead, I kissed their wet foreheads and embraced their clammy bodies until they calmed down so I could administer help.

But what if they ran away from me instead of toward me? What if they ran to someone else’s mother? That would’ve broken my heart into a million pieces. How much more is God’s love for His children? How must He hurt when we don’t run to Him following our failures?

Our united enemy, Satan, would like nothing better than for us to wallow in the prison of condemnation (Micah 7:19). If we stay there long enough, the work of God in Christ Jesus remains undone, and His calling on our lives remains dormant. This is not the will of God for us. Instead, He reminds us that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. He wants us to confess our failures because He is faithful to forgive and cleanse us from our wrongdoings.

We all fail in one way or another because there is no perfection except in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. In our failures, we are tempted to walk away as if we hadn’t committed an offense. The Spirit of God, however, will bring conviction (not condemnation) to our hearts to make it right.

Hope follows failure when we run to our loving Father with everything we have. He wants to embrace us and heal our hurts. Run to Him today.