I was scrolling through some of my pictures on my phone recently and came across this one. It’s been a while, but I remember this day so clearly.
He was struggling on the mound. There was no recovering from a bad pitch, no resetting and “wiping off the mound” with his foot like he so often does when he’s not throwing strikes. Everything he threw was either hittable by his opponent or ended in a walk. Pitch after pitch. Batter after batter.
My heart broke for him as a mom, because all I could do was watch.
Watch him do what he called “fail” out there on that field with everyone’s eyes on him.
Finally! The coach took him off the mound. And honestly, a feeling of relief came over me. When you’re a pitcher having an off day—with everyone watching—it’s hard. You feel like you’ve let your team down. You feel like you’ve let your coach down. And if you’re as hard on yourself as my son is, you feel like you’ve failed yourself.
It was hard standing there on the other side of that fence watching as my 12 year old boy walked off the mound and to the dugout feeling defeated. As I thought about that day, God gently reminded me of something my heart needed just as much as his did in that moment
We can never fail God.
Failure feels so final to us. We measure it in missed opportunities, bad days, wrong decisions, and moments we wish we could redo. We define ourselves by performance—by wins and losses, by results, by what others see.
But God doesn’t.
God doesn’t love us based on how well we perform. He doesn’t withdraw when we stumble. He doesn’t turn His back when we have an “off day.” His love is not fragile. It’s not conditional. It’s not dependent on our ability to get it right.
Scripture says it clearly:
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers… nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
— Romans 8:38–39
I mean NOTHING!
Not failure.
Not disappointment.
Not weakness.
Not a bad inning.
Not a bad season.
Not even our worst day.
God doesn’t see us through the lens of our mistakes—He sees us through the finished work of Jesus.
When my son walked off that mound, he carried the weight of disappointment. But God saw something different. God saw a child who showed up. A child who tried. A child who is learning perseverance, humility, and trust. God saw growth being formed in places that wins never could.
And isn’t that true for us too?
Some of the moments we label as “failure” are actually the moments God uses to shape us the most. To remind us that our worth isn’t earned. That our identity isn’t shaken by a single moment. That His love doesn’t waver when we fall short.
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.”
— Lamentations 3:22–23
Every morning.
Even after a hard day.
Even after a bad performance.
Even when we’re disappointed in ourselves.
As a mom, I wanted so badly to take that feeling from him—to remind him that one game doesn’t define him. And in that moment, God reminded me that He does the same for us. He meets us in our disappointment, sits with us in our discouragement, and whispers truth over the lies we tell ourselves.
You may feel like you’ve failed.
You may feel exposed.
You may feel like everyone saw your weakness.
But God sees you covered in grace.
You can’t fail Him.
And nothing—absolutely nothing—can separate you from His love.
“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you.”
— Zephaniah 3:17
Even on your off days.
Especially on your off days.
And that is a truth worth holding onto—on the mound, in the stands, and in every part of life.