Sometimes it just finally hits home. Feel the nails.
“When Thomas Edison was interviewed by a young reporter who boldly asked Mr. Edison if he felt like a failure and if he thought he should just give up by now. Perplexed, Edison replied, ‘Young man, why would I feel like a failure? And why would I ever give up? I now know definitively over 9,000 ways that an electric light bulb will not work. Success is almost in my grasp.’ And shortly after that, and over 10,000 attempts, Edison invented the light bulb.”
I’ve always heard this story of Thomas Edison and how it took him over 10,000 before he got the light bulb. There are so many things in life that take what seems like 100s of failures before we finally get it right. Learning how to ride a bike, figure out that first algebra problem, cooking your first meal, and the list can go on forever in things that we may need a few times to get it right. Everyone has something in their life that they needed more than one try for it to finally “click”.
I can remember as a young boy sitting in the car with my mom listening to a, now old, Ray Boltz tape. She would listen to it all the time. I must have heard that tape hundreds of times. One particular night the song “feel the nails” was playing and I found myself crying. I couldn’t quite understand why I was crying. My mother noticed, and her first reaction was that one of my siblings had thrown something at me, but no object was to be found around me. The realization that the words of the song were the source of the emotion, struck me as crazy. After all, I’ve heard the song hundreds of times, and never before did it do anything to me. The chorus of:
“Does he still feel the nails
Every time I fail
Can he hear the crowd cry “Crucify” again
Am I causing him pain
Then I know I’ve got to change
I just can’t bear the thought of hurting him.”
Just finally hit me… It was one of those “God” moments you hear people talk about.
So what’s the point? Maybe you have been praying for someone in your life to finally see the light. Maybe you’ve been trying to help someone, but they keep messing up over and over again. Maybe there’s someone who keeps trying to do the right thing, but just can’t seem to get it. Remember that sometimes it takes a while for people to finally grasp something and there is still hope for everyone. God has a huge plan for each and ever one of us. There isn’t anyone whom God takes delight in their failure to live a righteous and good life. It just takes some people longer than others to realize the greatest life is one led by God.
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