Have You Ever Had An "OOPS" Moment?

For we all stumble in many ways.

James 3:2

 

Have you ever had an "oops" moment?  I have.  On many occasions, I manage to find that invisible speed bump when I'm walking, especially if I am in a hurry.  The last time this happened, I almost wept openly because I dropped my entire cup of coffee.  

 

What is James trying to tell us? Perhaps he's telling us that no one is perfect.  Maybe he's reminding us that stumbling is normal, a fact of life, proof of our humanness.  Here's an interesting factoid:  It's not just humans that stumble.  I watched a cat stalk a bird onto the roof of a house.  The bird knew exactly what it was doing.  The bird was luring the cat away from the nest.  The bird pulled the "broken wing" routine along the crest of the house with the cat creeping ever closer.  Finally, the bird reached the end of the roof, jumped off and flew away.  Undeterred, the cat simply stopped where it was and decided to roll over and scratch its back.  Being that the roof was an incline, the cat rolled over.....and over and over and over until it fell off the roof into the bushes below.  Then the cat jumped up and looked around to see if anyone saw its "oops" moment.

 

Let's face it, we ALL stumble at times. And, speaking from experience, when we stumble we may feel guilty or REALLY wish we could disappear or simply feel like a complete failure.  But guess what?  When we stumble (yes, I said WHEN) we have to get up, dust off, and keep pressing on.  Why?  Because of God's grace we have His forgiveness!  When we see someone stumble, help them up.  In the same way we would want someone to help us up.