I’m currently reading Judges and Matthew together as part of my scripture reading and yesterday it so happened that I read about Samson in Judges and Peter’s denial in Matthew on the same day. The one similarity that struck me about these two figures is that their failures are brought into sharp focus, respectively, in their stories. But while in both cases it seems like their story has come to an end at their undoing — Samson being betrayed to the Philistines and Peter deserting Jesus in disgrace — we know it’s not the end.

In Samson’s case, while for most of his life he wasted his God-given strength acting impulsively for self-serving purposes, in a final moment of faith he explicitly called on God for strength to bring down the temple and thereby fulfil his purpose of beginning to restore Israel from Philistine. In Peter’s case, while he fearfully denied Jesus when he was accused of knowing him, he went on to courageously and faithfully spread the word fulfilling Jesus’ commission for him to be the founder of the Christian church.

Similarly in our own lives, when we fail in our walks of faith, we needn’t despair in that failure, because it is not the end of our story, and the word reassures us of this, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6 NIV)

Samson and Peter’s stories have helped me to remember three things in reflecting on my own life with the above scripture in mind.

We are chosen, even with our failures

God was not surprised by any of Samson’s mistakes, not even when he told Delilah how to weaken him, just as He wasn’t surprised by Peter’s denial. Yet knowing this, He chose them anyway. The same is true of you and I. When we fail to do the right thing, or we stumble in our faith, we can take comfort that He chose us, died for us and called us knowing that we would still fail even when we chose Him and professed our faith in Him. A good friend reminded me of this, though in a much blunter way through a common saying, ‘When God wrote the plan for your life he factored in your stupidity.’ What a relief it is to hear when I think back on some of my poor decisions even when I was living in faith!

We don’t need to make ourselves perfect for Him to love and accept us, we are perfect by His sacrifice, yet He wants and has called us to something greater in our lives which requires us to change, “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Hebrews 10:14 NIV.

Our failures are a testimony

What makes the stories of Samson and Peter so strong, is that it shows the stark difference between their earlier failures and their final transformation. While Samson lived his life boasting of his strength and using it to settle grudges or get revenge, his final act of strength was humbling himself before God and asking for the strength to be used in an act of self-sacrifice. While Peter deserted Jesus by the simple accusation of a servant girl, after living a life in service to Jesus, he eventually went on willingly to be executed for his faith.

“Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.” 1 Timothy 4:15.

Progress is indeed evident in the lives of Samson and Peter, and it is specifically progress from their failures. In this light, we have an opportunity when we fail to not see it as something to dismay us, but rather something to encourage us as we look forward to when we are faced with similar circumstances that led to our failures, reflecting on how we will act differently. In this way, those who witness your failings, will also witness the progress and triumph of these failings, pointing to the work of grace in your life.

We are not alone

“Now may the God of peace… equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ…” Hebrews 13:20–21 NIV.

Living in the presence of the Holy Spirit is what sharpens our character. It was when Samson humbled himself before God and acknowledged from Whom he received his strength, that he showed the greatest strength of his life. It was when Peter had seen the risen Jesus, resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit and lived by that same spirit from the moment of Pentecost, that he was no longer fearful of death, but instead embraced a life in service to Jesus, even in death.

What we learn from Samson and Peter, is that it’s when we depend on God for our strength, and when we live in the power of the Holy Spirit, that we are transformed. God does not expect us to do it alone, and that is specifically why Jesus said that He would send to us His helper. It is through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, that we live in God’s strength and not our own, and it is the Holy Spirit that brings about our progress, which is the biggest testimony to the power of Jesus.

How is your progress?

I’d like to invite you to join me in an exercise I’m doing this week: write down any recent (or past) failures, big or small. Then reflect on how you would like to respond next time you face similar circumstances, and pray for the Holy Spirit’s help when that moment comes. As part of this, take time to reflect on each fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22–23 — Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control — and consider which are thriving in you, and which need nurturing.

Angela Chiaberta

I am a volunteer blogger with a passion for God and writing. My hope is to help others choose faith – or to walk deeper in their faith – through my own introspections and observations.

The post Works in Progress appeared first on Cup of Faith.

A poem about the grace of communion:

Come, sit at the table, my friend

Kate Walsh

Kate is the current owner and editor of Cup of Faith. She is a blogger who loves Jesus, loves to read, and currently lives in Johannesburg with her husband.

The post The Table: A Poem appeared first on Cup of Faith.

“From His fullness, we have all received, grace upon grace.” – John 1:16 (ESV)

Grace is not in short supply. It’s not something you have to beg for or work to earn. The Word tells us that grace is poured out in abundance—more than enough for every situation, every weakness, and every need. And the best part? We have received it through Jesus.

There’s no shortage of grace in Him. No lack. No limits. We are not scraping by on crumbs of God’s goodness; we are living in the overflow of His grace.
So why do we sometimes live as though we’re running on empty? Why do we struggle through life, trying to do things in our own strength when grace is right here—ready to empower, sustain, and transform us?

Grace Changes Everything

In Greek, the word for grace is Charis, which speaks of God’s divine influence upon the heart. And whatever influences your heart will always reflect in your life.

If fear rules your heart, it will shape your decisions. If insecurity fills your heart, it will dictate how you see yourself. But when grace influences your heart, it changes everything—your identity, actions, desires, and struggles.

That’s why it matters what (or who) is leading your heart. The voices you listen to, the beliefs you hold onto, and the way you see yourself all flow from the influence of your heart.

So, what is shaping you? Fear or grace? Striving or surrender? Your past or God’s promise?

Designed to Be Led by Grace

We were never meant to navigate life on our own, relying on human effort or sheer willpower. We were designed to be led by God—to wake up each day with Him, to walk through every moment in His strength, and to end each day reflecting on His goodness.

Yet, too often, we take the weight of the world onto our shoulders, forgetting that grace was always meant to carry us.

It’s time to shift. It’s time to live empowered by grace.

Grace: A Gift Freely Given

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” – John 1:17

Grace is a gift—not a reward for good behavior, not something you have to work for, not something you can ever deserve. It was freely given through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

You did nothing to earn it, and you can do nothing to lose it.

The beauty of grace is that it meets us where we are but never leaves us there. It strengthens us, transforms us, and empowers us to walk in the fullness of who God created us to be.

Grace in Weakness: The Power of Surrender

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9

Grace isn’t just there for the good days—it’s there for the hard ones, too. It’s there in the moments when you feel unqualified, when you don’t have the strength, when you don’t know the next step.

The world tells us to hide our weaknesses, to push through, to strive harder. But God tells us something different: our weakness is where His strength shows up the most.

To receive grace, you have to surrender. To live by grace, you have to acknowledge that you need help—that you can’t do this on your own. And that’s not a place of failure; it’s a place of power.

Challenge

So, this week, here’s a question to journal: How am I choosing to live empowered by grace?

In addition, scriptures to meditate on:

1. Stop striving and start your journey of surrendering: Psalm 46:10, Matthew 11:28-30
2. Allow grace to shape your heart and lead your steps: 2 Corinthians 12:9, Proverbs 3:5-6
3. Start each day knowing that His grace is more than enough: Lamentations 3:22-23, Ephesians 2:8

You don’t have to do this alone. You were never meant to. Grace is here—full, abundant, and freely given.
It’s time to live empowered.

Chola Tshilanga

Hi, I’m Chola Tshilanga! A passionate content creator and digital expert using her gift of writing to help others live a more intentional life in God while fulfilling their purpose, using God’s word as a compass.

The post Empowered by Grace appeared first on Cup of Faith.

About two weeks ago after church, I was struck in the head by a soccer ball. I was chasing my two-year-old daughter who had ecstatically run into the middle of the quad where two boys were kicking a ball to one another (she suffers from a misconception that wherever a ball is present, she is the Ronaldo everyone has been waiting for). It was perfect-bad timing, and the midair ball was intercepted… by my head! If I had any soccer skills, I could have passed it off as an intentional header, but, alas, I am no professional.

While I experienced a slight shock from the blow, I was seemingly fine and carried her back into the safety of the church building where I continued to watch her as she gleefully ran around the chairs and bystanders. About ten minutes later, I found myself crying uncontrollably.

The most prominent emotion I felt by my sudden breakdown was embarrassment and vulnerability as surprised congregants gathered around me, but I was also dumbfounded as to where all this was coming from. After much reflection over the following days, I realised that, though nothing major was happening in my life, a lot was happening. Often when there is so much going on we go into autopilot mode, holding ourselves together until a small little trigger — in my case a soccer ball — pushes the last of our buttons, and we implode.

Taking inventory

Things get busy, and sometimes there is no way of escaping it, but it’s about how we take care of ourselves and what we are allowing to surround those busy circumstances that determines how well we cope. My sudden emotional display on that Sunday indicated that something was remiss in how well I was managing my busyness. So, with journal and pen in hand, I spent time on my own to reflect.

I first started with listing everything that had been taking up my time, but the more I wrote, the more I realised that there were a lot of worries and stress caused by negative thoughts about my personal failings. It was not my circumstances exhausting me, it was the pressure I was putting on myself through negative thinking that had exhausted me.

Sorting through the mess

Like unpacking a cupboard into which I had shoved unsightly items, I was confronted with many thoughts: being an inadequate mother, an incompetent manager of our home, an imposter at work, in general a feeling of being an incapable child in an adult’s body. But worst of all, a consistent guilt that I was failing as a Christian because of all my worldly coping mechanisms and not having enough faith.

I realised that I was trapped in a cycle of negative beliefs that left me powerless to change, while perpetuating the problems with my own repeated mistakes. With all this laid out in front of me, the thing I found myself saying to God was, “Lord, I’m a mess.” To which I felt Him answer, “But you’re my mess.”

At these words, I felt God show me a wonderful analogy which came in the form of when my daughter had a friend over for a playdate and they emptied her toy box in the middle of the living room. This pile gradually expanded across the whole living area as they happily explored the various items and ran off playing with them. Once the playdate was over, I settled on the floor and started to pack the toys away, which then became an exercise in creating more order out of the toy box. I restacked and regrouped parts so that they could be played with as a complete toy and not with missing pieces, but most importantly, I sorted the actual toys that had been gifted to her and belonged in the toy box from the random objects that had somehow found their way in: clothes pegs, spoons and clothes we had been searching for being chief among them.
I believe this is what God does with us when a trigger brings our mess to the surface, He sorts through it with us.

Finding rest

It was the biggest relief to know that God is not repulsed by my mess, because I’m a work in progress and He is sorting through it. Unless we allow Jesus to unpack our hidden, stuffed-to -the-brim cupboards, it cannot be sorted out. And He doesn’t expect us to sort it out on our own, nor does He rush us. The same way I settled down on the floor and in a relaxed manner started going through all the items while Jo re-discovered some treasured toys, Jesus comes alongside us and gently sorts through all our items, allowing us to rediscover treasured gifts from Him, and removing the random objects that don’t belong in our box.

With the above analogy in mind, I’d like to reimagine one of my favourite scriptures, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 NIV) as, ‘Come to me all you who have burdened yourselves with guilt and negative thoughts, and I will give you rest.’

To avoid the mess forming in the first place, we should be taking captive every thought exactly as Paul instructs us to do in 2 Corinthians 10:5, but often busyness is the culprit that prevents us from doing this. Which is why it is important to ensure we take care of ourselves by setting aside however much time we can, even if just for ten minutes, to pause, breathe, reflect, cast our minds to Jesus and allow the redemptive work of the cross to wash over us and calm our troubled hearts. Because thanks to the cross, whatever our mess, in Jesus, we can find rest.

Question for the reader: What are some of the negative thoughts that are creating a ‘mess’ for you? Write them down and ask Jesus to come alongside you to sort through it and bring you healing.

Angela Chiaberta

I am a volunteer blogger with a passion for God and writing. My hope is to help others choose faith – or to walk deeper in their faith – through my own introspections and observations.

The post Finding Rest in the Mess appeared first on Cup of Faith.