Failure—A Part of Life

By: Erlinda Mejia-Olson

LAMENTATIONS 3:22-23 ~ "Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."

Being successful is not solely measured by the list of your successes, but on how well you handled failure and embraced it with grace and humility.

So you failed! It is not the end of the world. Failure is part of every human experience. It discriminates no one. No matter how hard you try to live a successful life but you can’t get away without having failure; And man’s natural reaction towards failure is blame shifting—blame God, others, circumstances. When truly is the noble thing to do—to hold no one but yourself accountable for the consequences. One may say, "I can’t help it … I’m just human." … "Well, I didn't really have a choice", so a person may also say. But the truth is—YOU DO. You either choose to wallow and whine over a spilled milk, or accept your predicament, humble yourself before the LORD, and press on.

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:6-7)

The latter part is the wisest choice, and more so should be an attitude of anyone who professes to be a Christian.  I understand how difficult it is to embrace failure when you desire to succeed.  I am not ashamed to admit that I have failed many times myself.  But it is not a question of whether we have failed or not, because we will fail in something at some point in our life.  But the real question is will we learn from those failures and allow God to use them for our personal growth.  The reality is the world will not stop because we have failed;  And definitely, God will not love us less because we have failed.  Friend, you may have failed, but God hasn't and will not.  Be encouraged, failing is not synonymous to being weak.  As a matter of fact, I find it abnormal for anyone who hasn’t failed in something.  There is only ONE being I know who never fails, and that is the LORD Jesus Christ.  In light of His life as He modeled meekness and humility according to the Bible, He suffered and died for a sinful world—for you and me. In the eyes of many, they may think that Christ failed, and when the Roman soldiers were mocking Him because He decided to take heed of the beatings and tortures, were for them, signs of weakness and failure. But in the eyes of God, seeing His only begotten Son going through the toughest moment of His life here on earth, in obedience to His purpose, why He needed to suffer, was indeed a victory for God, and Satan’s power could not prevail against it.

And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

God doesn't allow failure to torture us. He allows failure so we may see how great His power. To reveal more of Himself to us. He wants us to trust in Him, and to rely in His Word, in His promises.  "Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass." (Joshua 21:45).  For God is not mocked.  He knows everything about us—our needs, our fears, our weaknesses, our hearts’ desire, our thoughts.  Everything about you and me—GOD KNOWS.

"Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Friend, would it make any person better because they are living life with a bed of roses? Always standing at the mountain top?  It may feel great for awhile but it doesn’t last. Whether or not you agree with me, it is innate in man not to think of or need God if all is well in his life. But strip man from the things that he leans on for security and man will fall apart. Even some of the world's well-to-do, well-known people, could not escape from the wrath of living life successfully most of their lives, that ended their life by committing suicide or turning to drugs and alcohol. Engulfed by power, material wealth, fame, and success—that life loses its meaning and purpose—they don’t even know how to face life when failures strike.  All it takes is one great failure to end a life that is so precious in the sight of God.

"If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small." (Proverbs 24:10)

So Friend, are you afraid to fail?  Failure can be a frightening experience if you allow yourself to fail apart from the wisdom, strength, and grace of God.  More so when your sole desire is to win.  When you fix your eyes on this little box you put yourself in called,  "I, me, and myself", then you’re inviting failure to journey with you, clouding your very heart, your soul, your spirit, from knowing the beauty that comes when we fail.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

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Father in Heaven, I glorify Your name in all my failures. Thank You for giving me the courage and strength to embrace failure with meekness and humility according to Your mercy and grace.  As D.L. Moody prayed, "I'd rather die than to miss Your blessings in my life."  So, I pray, "I don't want to miss Your blessing that comes from having failed.  In Jesus’ name I beseech You, amen.

Song:
IN CHRIST ALONE