Frequently the world says that if we fail, we are done. But God is bigger than our failures. R.A. Dickey was an incredible pitcher for the Tennesse Volunteers who drafted by the Texas Rangers because of his 94-mph fastball. But when he had surgery to remove a bone spur, everything changed. Doctors found that he was born without a Tommy John Ligament in his right elbow. For those that don’t know baseball, you need that ligament.

In 1997, R.A. was stuck in the minor leagues and could have called it quits, but he changed his perspective. He decided to start pitching the knuckleball. This took years to perfect, but by 2012 he was selected to the All-Star Team for the first time. He ended up winning the CY Young Award that year with a 20–6 record. Those are incredible stats.

Perspective is everything. You can allow your sin and failure to own you, or you can use it to make the world a better place. The enemy wants to make sure you don’t impact the world, and one of the easiest ways to do that is to convince you that you are worthless, that you have done something so bad, so wrong that God can’t use you. For some, you have been stuck in the minor leagues for so long because someone told you that God couldn’t use broken things. I’m sorry, but that doesn’t align with scripture.

Romans 8:28 says, And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. God has a plan for your sin and failure. The enemy and the world doesn’t want you to know that. Think about it this way: God knew you before you were born (Psalm 139:13). He also knows everything about you (Psalm 139:1) — the good, the bad, and the ugly — yet he still loves you and wants to use you. That’s a great perspective. And because it’s a great perspective, the enemy wants to keep you from that truth.

There is nothing in this world that God can’t forgive. There is nothing God can’t use. So we must change our perspective of sin and failure. Is sin harmful and wrong? Yes. Does that mean God can’t use it to make this world better? No! We just have to be willing to allow God to use it for his glory. Often the thing we think will keep us from ministry is the thing God uses to change lives.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
— Psalm 51:14

Let’s have the right perspective and sing aloud God’s righteousness!