Never Fear Failure

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”  - Winston Churchill

The fear of failure can be a very paralyzing thing. It can hinder us from many different things, such as: reaching for our dreams, seeing something through to the end, trying for that better job, and even pursuing lasting, intimate relationships. Failure has a nasty habit of knocking the wind right out of our sails.

The Bible has some notable examples of failure which are used as teaching points. One mighty example of failure was repeated many times by the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. Time and time again, despite having more than one prophet convey God's instructions to them, they rebelled and comitted sin against Him.

This pattern of failure to heed God's mandates caused them a lot of pain and misery, which could have been avoided very easily had they only complied. Moses gave in to the whining of his people and failed to follow God's strict instructions (Numbers 20:2-5). His failure would cost him not being able to lead the assembly into the promised land (Numbers 20:8-12).

When we examine ourselves, we realize that we too often fall short of who we might be. Even so, we can take comfort from the Bible, where we see many characters who failed, and yet learned from their mistakes to successfully prosper later on.

God would work with them to help them learn from their failures, and to accomplish good things in spite of their limitations. We can see by their example that failure is something we need not fear. Plus, we learn how to apply the stories of these Biblical characters to our own modern lives.

When Jim Burke became the head of a new products division at Johnson & Johnson, one of his first projects was the development of a children’s chest rub. The product failed miserably, and Burke expected that he would be fired. When he was called in to see the chairman of the board, however, he met a surprising reception.

“Are you the one who just cost us all that money?” asked Robert Wood Johnson. “Well, I just want to congratulate you. If you are making mistakes, that means you are taking risks, and we won’t grow unless you take risks.” Some years later, when Burke himself became chairman of Johnson & Johnson he continued to spread that word.

We have all experienced failure at one point or another during our lives. Yes, it's not a pleasant experience, but that's exactly the point. We shouldn't look at failure as failure. It shouldn't discourage you from pressing on (Joshua 1:9). And even though you might have messed up this time, there's always next time (Philippians 4:13).

If you acquire anything from failure it should be the toughness and perserverance to better handle the situation next time. God earnestly wants to forgive and strengthen us. The only way we can possibly lose is to surrender to failure.

All of us will fail at something at some point in our lives; it's inevitable, But only those who are truly failures will refuse to rise back up. You have to keep pressing on, keep fighting, and if you need it, turn to others for help. Most of all, let God lift and restore you (James 4:10).

Scripture: Philippians 4:13; Romans 5:3-5; Psalm 73:26; Romans 8:28; Proverbs 24:16

Prayer: Dear Lord, though failure is a part of our earthly life; I know that it's just another part of our learning experience on our journey home to You. I pray that no matter what life holds in store for me, good or bad, You will guide me through it; and that I will be a better person for it in the end. Amen

Have a blessed day!

Krystal