We don’t like talking about our failures. We’ve all failed at something, and as you think back on it, it smarts, doesn’t it? But how often have you failed because you didn’t get up again after you stumbled? There’s a thought.

In the mid-18th Century, Vitus Bering, a Danish explorer in Russian service, set out to chart the waters between Siberia and North America. After successfully reaching Alaska his crew fell ill, and supplies began to run low. Survival and a successful return were still possible, but Bering lost heart. He stopped leading and allowed the crew to drift aimlessly.

The expedition collapsed on a desolate island. Bering died, and all was lost. Had he held on just a little longer and rallied his crew, he likely would have returned home and secured his legacy as one of history’s great explorers.

When adversity strikes, when we fall flat on our face, we have a choice: to get up or to give up.

Proverbs 24:16 Good people might fall again and again, but they always get up. It is the wicked who are defeated by their troubles.

It turns out that God doesn’t define failure as falling down, but as refusing to get back up again. When you think about it, often – not always, but often – you only really fail when you stop trying.

What is it that you’ve set out to do? What adversity’s struck you down? How strong is the temptation to give up? They’re tough questions, to be sure, but questions we should be asking ourselves … because perseverance pays off.

Good people might fall again and again, but they always get up.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.