The Power of Failure
The apostle Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 “Even though I have received wonderful revelations from God. But to keep me from getting puffed up, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from getting proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time He said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in your weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me. Since I know it is all for Christ's good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Every person (believer in Christ or unbeliever) has failures. Albert Einstein wasn’t able to speak until he was almost four years old, and his teachers said he would “never amount to much”. Michael Jordan after being cut from his high school basketball team went home, locked himself in his room, and cried. Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper for “lacking imagination” and “having no original ideas”. Steve Jobs at age 30 was left devastated after being unceremoniously removed from the company he started. Oprah Winfrey was demoted from her job as a news anchor because she “wasn’t fit for television”. The Beatles were rejected by Decca Recording Studios who said, “We don’t like their sound; they have no future in show business”.
At age seven, a young boy and his family were forced out of their home, and the boy was forced to go to work. When the boy was nine, his mother passed away. He had a job as a store clerk but lost it when he was twenty. The young man wanted to go to law school but had no education. He went into debt when he was 23, to become a partner in a small store. It was only three years later that his business partner died and left him with a debt that took years for him to repay. He dated a girl for four years and at 28 asked her to marry him. She turned him down. 37 years into his life, he was elected to Congress…on his third try. He then failed to be re-elected. This man’s son died when he was only four years old. At age 45 he ran for the Senate and failed to be elected. He persisted at politics and ran for the vice-presidency at age 47 and again lost. Finally at age 51 this man was elected President of the USA. His name was Abraham Lincoln.
“Would you like me to give you a formula for...success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure... You’re thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all... You can be discouraged by failure—or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that’s where you’ll find success. On the far side.”
Hebrews 11 is known as the Hall of Fame of Faith; it could also be called the Hall of Failures. Each person was an ordinary person who failed constantly. Abraham consistently lied; Noah drank too much; Jacob was a deceiver; Moses murdered a man; David was the cause for a man’s murder, and he committed adultery; Gideon was afraid; Sampson was a womanizer; Rahab was a prostitute; Jephthah was a bandit, a social and family outcast. In addition, other people in the Bible not listed here but were failures- Elijah was suicidal; Jonah ran from God; Job went bankrupt; Peter denied Christ three times; Martha worried about everything; Mary Magdalene was demon possessed and a prostitute; and Paul tortured Christians.
But God used these ordinary people in eternally significant ways when they stepped out in faith. It is truly a joy to know that God does not focus on our failures but on our faith; He wants us to stay under Him and trust Him. He will continue to use us when we exercise faith. He turns our failures into eternal significance through His power.
Sadly, all of us realize that not all the famous people reported here turned to God in their failures; and, therefore, had to deal with them on their own and achieved only temporal earthly success. However, God truly uses the failures and flaws of His children to work together for eternal good. Romans 8:28-29 “And we know all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
When we realize God uses His power in our failures, we can do what James says in James 1:2-4
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
Failures allow us to have a new mindset about God; He loves us more than we love ourselves and He wants the very best for us. What are disguised as failures and tribulations and flaws are God’s pathway for our eternally significant success. God truly wants His children to trust in Him, be content and let His power turn our failures into His success.
