“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up” (Thomas A. Edison). This quote came from a man who was told by a teacher he was too stupid to learn anything and should get a job that required no intellectual skills. I have to wonder if these words echoed in his mind during his five thousand failed attempts with different types of light-bulb filaments. But then, one filament continued to burn, in fact I recently saw a documentary and this same bulb is in a museum still glowing after 139 years. How much different would our life be today if he had given up on the 4,999th failure?
Satan capitalizes on our failures in order to discourage us and cause us to give up. Through the years, I tried to etch in the minds of every student I taught. “The only way you can fail is to quit.” For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again (Pro 24:16). Failures are a fact of living in a fallen and sinful world—in academics, finances, families, employment, morals, in every possible aspect of our existence. One of the reasons society deem failures so unacceptable results from the negative connotation people have placed on failure such as weakness, deficiency, disappointment, or incompetence. In contrast, some employers won’t hire you if you claim you have never failed. That normally indicates a person has never attempted to do anything. We should take failure as a learning experience from which we learn how to do better next time. A pastor with whom I worked and I used to joke that one day we would write a book or maybe even several volumes and call it, A Thousand Ways NOT to Plant a Church.
Note that not all failures are sinful. Failing an exam in school or losing your job aren’t necessarily sinful. Yet, we find numerous accounts in scripture of men and women who did sin in their failure. Moses failed by his misdirected zeal and sinned when he got ahead of God and killed an Egyptian. David failed when he committed blatant sin by adultery with Bathsheba and by numbering the people against God’s direction. God did not reject them and tell them their ministry or relationship with Him was over because they failed. No, for the next forty years he prepared Moses for his ultimate purpose–leading Israel out of Egypt. David repented and served the Lord as King of Israel, wrote multiple Psalms, and prepared for the building of the temple. God is greater than any failure we experience.
Fear of failure can paralyze people to the point they just exist and accomplish nothing for God. If you fear driving, you won’t have an auto accident if sit in your driveway in neutral. However, you will never go anywhere. One of my Bible College professors and his wife had their seventh child in their late forties. The little girl was unable to walk when she was three because every time she tried and fell down one of her siblings would pick her up and carry her around all day.
The first step after a sinful failure is to accept your failure and not blame someone or something else, not self-justify it or suppress it. Then confess it to God and ask Him to forgive you. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1Jn 1:9). A crucial element includes accepting His forgiveness and forgiving ourselves. If we don’t forgive ourselves, we will continue to punish ourselves. Self-punishment adds nothing to the atonement for which Jesus died. By not accepting His forgiveness and not forgiving ourselves, we reject God’s grace and pardon.
Often schools and parents push children toward perfection beyond their natural abilities. My Bible College taught that students must develop and perfect every spiritual gift. Only after that could you be successful. Frustration and unending guilt best describes my feelings for many years. We must recognize that God limits our spiritual gifts. Everyone has at least one spiritual gift, but I know no one who has them all. I am not a gifted evangelist nor do I have a musical bone in my body. Recognize and accept your personal limitations. Focus on the gifts and talents God has given you and you will experience a lot less failures. You will fail much more when you refuse to accept your limitations and try succeeding in areas outside your abilities, both in your professional life and in serving Christ.
The key to victory centers on getting up after you fail and trying again. Success will come. I like the adage; losing one battle does not mean you have lost the war. Advancing two steps forward and one-step back does not constitute failure. It shows one step of progress and the fact you kept trying. People laughed and made fun of Edison because of all the failures he experienced for his dream of producing an affordable means of light; however, his mother believed in him and continued encouraging her son. Someone you know may only need a little encouragement who can become a great success in life and in the Kingdom of God
Sustaining Word for the Week: The only way you can fail is to quit. If you have failed and given up, confess, ask God for forgiveness, receive His forgiveness by forgiving yourself, ask Him for help and then try again.