Pastor and theologian JD Greear is urging the faithful not to be disheartened by personal failures which people often see as God's judgment. Instead he says they should it as a sign of God's mercy.
In his blog, Greear likened failures to the demise of the Tower of Babel, a symbol of human rebellion and sin, which God left unfinished and left to decay which is always the final destination of sin.
The pastor explained that instead of destroying the tower like what many believed happened, God left the broken tower to rot as a reminder of the sinfulness of their desires.
"I've found that God often does this for us, too: he frustrates our sinful plans, but instead of crushing those plans completely, he'll often leave the broken towers there. We'd rather him clean up the mess so we don't have to see it anymore. But he leaves it so that we'll stay indebted to him and remember his grace," he said.
In modern days, the broken towers equate to dsappointments – broken relationships, drug addiction, moral failure, lost opportunities - but Greear urged the faithful to look beyond the failures to see them as opportunities and reminders or even wake up calls that there needs to be an effort to return to the love of God.
"Broken towers in our lives feel like God's judgment. And in a sense, they are. But any judgment before the ultimate judgment is mercy, because it can wake us up before it's too late. God's small judgments in this life are warnings to us, towers that scream out: "Don't go down that path! It will only leave you empty!"
He said that if people misplace their faith, they will always end up with broken towers because the only safe place is in His arms surrounded by his love.
