Successful Failure

As humans, we have a hard time admitting failure.  We are embarrased by it and we fear the consequences of it.  We fear that if we admit failure our status will be diminished or perhaps we might lose our job or position in our church or community.  The truth is, we fear that failure is fatal.

The greater truth is, we are wrong.  Failure is not fatal.  Our demise can come on the heels of failure, but it is not failure that causes the fatality, it is our refusal to accept, learn and grow from the failure that causes the death of a career or a business or a relationship, etc.

The fact of failure is that it has launched many very successful individuals.  Henry Ford went broke seven times before founding Ford Motor Company.  R.H. Macy started seven failed businesses before making it big with his store in NY City.  Soichiro Honda was turned down for a job with Toyota before starting his own business.  Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper because "he lacked iagination and had no good ideas."  KFC's Colonel Sanders' famous chicken recipe was turned down 1009 times before a restaurant accepted it.  The list goes on and on.

When the apostle Paul talked about his ministry efforts, which turned the ancient world upside down and impact us greatly even today, did not reveal a smooth sailing effort.  Rather, he wrote, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed" (2 Cor 4:8-9).  The apostles were rejected over and over. They personally failed time after time.  But, they did not give up.  Their failures were not fatal.

There was one notable exception, however, Judas.  Judas failed and then hung himself.  Again, it was not the failure but his decision not to admit it, learn from it and grow.  Peter, like Judas, betrayed Jesus, but Peter didn't hang himself, he came back, began again and became a "pillar" (Gal 2:9) in the church.

Listen to the call of Jesus, "Come unto me all who are weary and burdened, and I  will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me" (Matt 11:28-29).  When we fail to measure up and life beats us down, that failure need not be fatal.  We can turn to Jesus, lay our burden of failure at his feet, receive the healing we need, learn from his Divine counsel and begin again.  Rather than get bent out of shape over a failure, we need  to "humble ourselves before the Lord, and he will lift us up" (James 4:10).

The point is, failure isn't fatal, giving up is.  Too often people give up, thinking it's over when it's only just begun.  As the great theologian, Yogi Berra, once quipped, "It ain't over til it's over."  Therefore don't give up as long as you're in the game.  Jus' Say'n.