Facing Failure

In America today we are preoccupied with success. We all love winners, and we hate  losers.   Americans love champions - they love achievers.  We don't have royalty in our country today, but if we did they would probably be the rich and famous.  Everybody admires success. I've never met anybody who says my goal in life is to fail. No, it's usually the opposite. People want to achieve and accomplish and be successful. In America today we are preoccupied with success. We all love winners, and we hate  losers.   Americans love champions - they love achievers.  We don't have royalty in our country today, but if we did they would probably be the rich and famous.  Everybody admires success. I've never met anybody who says my goal in life is to fail. No, it's usually the opposite. People want to achieve and accomplish and be successful.

But even though this achievement attitude has its advantages, it can also cause people to be preoccupied with failure. And that produces other problems.  For example preoccupation with failure can cause people to be indecisive. Let's say I'm faced with a decision and there's a lot at stake. So I think, "What if I make the wrong choice?" "What if I make the wrong decision?"  What will happen? The implications are serious! And I vacillate back and forth and back and forth. And sometimes I get stuck in the valley of indecision. Another thing preoccupation with failure can do is turn us into workaholics. People want to get ahead, and once they do, they want to stay ahead. So they work and they overwork, and the process escalates. And this often leads to workaholism.

And here's another problem. Preoccupation with failure can also cause us to become perfectionists.  Perfectionists worry about never being good enough. They worry that people won’t like them. They worry that they’ll be viewed as failures.  So they strive to do everything perfectly. And that just doesn't line up with reality. These are just a few of the problems that fear of failure can cause. There are others we could talk about as well. But what I want to do now is take a look at what God says about failure.  He has a lot to say about it in the Bible, so let's start with the first thing He says.

The first thing God says is everybody fails.

James 3:2 says. “We all stumble in many ways.” James 3:2

I'm sure everyone would agree with that. Let’s examine some facts about failure. First of all we have all failed many, many times in the past. And I am going to guess that most of us are failing right now in some area of our lives.  But let me give you a news flash. You’re going to continue to fail in the future. Because that's part of our human condition. Take a look at Ecclesiastes 7:20..

“There is no one on earth who does what is right all the time and never makes a mistake.” Ecclesiastes 7:20

A good example of this is people in sports. Basketball players in the NBA miss 50% of their shots on average.  In professional baseball, an outstanding batting average is 300. That means seven out of ten times the batter doesn't get a hit. And here's what the Bible says,

"All have sinned and fallen short of God’s mark of perfection." Romans 3:23

That's an amazing statement. It seems we all have all missed the mark. Thank God He's a forgiving God! The second thing God says is failure is not final. We all tend to exaggerate what failure can do.  We blow it out of proportion. "I will be destroyed." "My reputation will be ruined." "I will lose everything." "I will be rejected by everybody." And so on. This kind of thinking is called "stinking thinking". "Stinking thinking" is self-generated and it bears no resemblance to the truth. So what can we do about eliminating it?  Or more specifically how can we change our attitude about failure?

Well, we can start by redefining what failure really is. Let me give you a definition that I think is pretty good. Failure is just one more step on the road to success. Failure is not a final outcome - it's not the end of the story. A good example is learning how to ride a bike. You get on, you fall off.  You get on, you fall off…. And you keep doing that until you finally stay on for five seconds, and then ten seconds. And pretty soon you are riding your bike. Now each time we fell off could be called a failure. But actually it's not. It's just one more step to success.

We often see this kind of  persistence in successful people. Successful people keep going. They don't stop. And they are not particularly special. They are just ordinary people with determination.  But they keep going regardless of what happens.  And as long as they keep trying -- they haven't failed. That's the key. Here's something I really want you to get. PEOPLE ONLY FAIL WHEN THEY GIVE UP. Failure is not the end of the story - It's just one more step to success.

Let me give you some examples of "famous failures"…...

• George Washington lost two-thirds of the battles he fought, yet he won the Revolutionary War.
• Napoleon graduated 42nd in a class of 43, and then he went out and conquered Europe. · R. P. Macy had seven bankruptcies before he successfully started Macy’s Department store.
• Babe Ruth hit 714 home runs during his career, but he also struck out 1330 times. 

• Thomas Edison conducted a huge number of experiments before he succeeded in inventing the light bulb.

And there are many more examples we can look at, but they all raise an interesting question. What kept these people going?Well, I think one of the main things was they focused on worthwhile endeavors that they believed in. And that's something we need to apply to ourselves. There are lots of things we can do that are a waste of time and are not worth doing. This is not to say that we can't do things that are frivolous from time to time. But when we are deciding the direction of our lives and what to do, we need to focus on what is worthwhile. We need to focus on what we believe in and are passionate about. Now if we are not sure what's that is - if we are confused - we can always ask God. Take look at James 1:5-8.

"If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do." James 1:5-8

This is a promise of God. He says He will give us wisdom when we ask for it. And notice God doesn't limit the areas where we can ask for wisdom. So we can ask for wisdom about anything. The only requirement is we have to believe He will give it to us. Once He gives us wisdom, we will know what to do. This gives us confidence and resolve,  because when God directs us to do something, it's always right. And here's a bonus. He always provides the resources to do it. And that gives us further determination and confidence to keep going.

Well, that's it for now. Next week we will look at two more things God says about failure. In the meantime keep failing your way to success!