Earlier this week I watched 60 grammar school children bowl at Jac’s Lanes in Valdosta. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen children have as much fun as they did. I’ve seen children bowl before. After rolling the ball over and over in the gutter, they get discouraged. By the middle of the game they are ready to quit, frustrated at their lack of success.

In case you’ve never bowled or have not been in many years, most bowling alleys now have gutter guards that keep balls from rolling into the gutter. They are raised for children. No matter how badly the ball is rolled, as long as it’s enough speed, it’s going to knock down some pins.

Of course, knocking down pins created excitement for the children. The fact that the gutters had guards didn’t take the joy away from them at all. There were few long faces, only the sounds of children laughing, cheering, and celebrating their achievements. Children left happy. Everybody succeeded. They were all winners.

Most coaches will tell you that not everyone can be a winner. Every game must have a winner and a loser. Life, however, is not a game. There are a lot of losers in life but God wants us all to be winners. God wants us all to succeed so along the way God erects some gutter guards to ensure some success.

When Jesus was teaching his disciples, he knew they would be many mistakes. He didn’t keep them from failing but he also wanted them to have enough success that they would not be discouraged so he put up some gutter guards along the way.

Take Peter as an example. Once Jesus came to his disciples while they were fishing on a boat on the Sea of Galilee. The Bible says that Jesus came to them, “walking on the sea.” This terrified the disciples, thinking they had seen a ghost. But when they heard the voice of Jesus and knew it was he, Peter immediately said, “‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’ So He said, ‘Come.’ And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.” Matt 14 25-29 (NKJV)

That’s what I call a gutter guard. Jesus allowed Peter to have some success. It was the Lord that held Peter above the waves. Without Jesus placing that guard up, Peter would have sunk beneath the waves immediately. The Bible says that as soon as Peter “saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!'” Matt 14:30 (NKJV)

The Lord’s gutter guards don’t keep us from sinking; they only remind us that without the Lord’s power and grace, it would be impossible to keep our heads above the waves of life.

The Bible tells us of another occasion when Peter sank beneath tidal wave of fear. As Jesus was being interrogated, Peter rolled a gutter ball three times as he denied to three different people that he knew Jesus. Jesus did not keep Peter from falling but Jesus had placed the gutter guard up when Peter needed it most. Jesus had already said to Peter, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” Luke 22:31-32 (NKJV)

The prayers of Jesus served as Peter’s gutter guard. This didn’t keep Peter from failing but without Jesus’ prayers, perhaps Peter’s fate would have been the same as that of Judas.

The gutter guards at the bowing alley didn’t keep the children from failing. Occasionally a ball never made it to the pins. I even saw one kid who managed to roll a gutter ball even though the gutter guard was up. Can anybody identify with that kid?

The gutter guards were gifts of grace that ensured some success. Without having some success, many of the children would have turned away, discouraged.

Some things don’t change about human nature or with our age. We all need enough success to be encouraged in our efforts and to find joy along the way. God doesn’t keep us from failure but God grants us enough success by his grace that we should recognize it and be thankful for it. Without God’s grace, we’d stay in the gutter for sure.



The Rev. Michael Helms is pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Moultrie.