Failure is a gross word. We hate it.
Recently, our pastor spoke on the Dark Knight of Failure.
In his sermon, he told us many examples of what failure is NOT so that we can better understand what failure is.
There are a couple important points that resonated with me particularly.
I was blessed to go to this church service with Geoffrey and I will write more about that later.
In Pastor Gary's first point, he stated, "Failure is NOT avoidable"
I really really really resonated with this point.
WE ARE ALL SINNERS!!! WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES!
When I was at Westmont, I thought I couldn't fail... I thought that I was on top of the world! Ironically, in my first efforts to attend Westmont in 2005, I was rejected and had to go to community college for another year so that I could apply in 2006. I should have expected life to not go my way, but it seems that I forgot that lesson and I was convinced I was untouchable! Boy was I wrong! I blew it big time. I thought that if I asked for help or advice that I would be failing. I thought I could do it all alone. Instead, I did not ask, I did not seek advice and I failed all by myself. I had to leave Westmont. I could not avoid it at all.
I had to accept my defeat and come home.
His next point, "Failure is NOT the enemy"
Sometimes, we have to learn this lesson more than once, twice or three times.
When the three kids were younger, my parents bought us bikes so we could learn and be active little kids. Apparently this is how the story goes, my grandfather, my father and my uncle, all tried to help us learn to ride our bikes but not one of the Canty kids learned how to ride.
We went through our younger years not knowing how to ride. :(
When I became 21 a friend of mine convinced me that I should buy myself a bike to celebrate my monumental birthday. PROBLEM!!! I still didn't know how to ride! SInce she was a good friend, she was committed to helping me learn to ride. Time and time again, I fell off my pretty yellow bike. I was so embarrassed. It is kinda cute when a little kid falls off but when a 21 year old falls.... people look twice. By me failing, I finally learned what I needed to do to get situated on that bike. By falling, I was able to teach myself to ride a bike! And now I can say I am so glad that I was not afraid of failing so I could continue to try.
The other points Pastor Gary mentioned are
"Failure is NOT irreversable and Failure is NOT final"
Pastor Gary's last point, was from John Maxwell, "Failure is the Price we pay for Success"
When we fail, we succeed. It sounds a little strange and annoying. Why can't we just succeed? Why can't we just skip the painful part? When we fail, we are able to gain strength and we have compassion for others who are failing. We are able to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord and know that he still has our best interests at heart and cares for us in every way.
From this example, I have to talk about Geoffrey. Today, he took test number three to become an EMT, and today he passed. After 6 months of classes and test taking, he passed with an 85%!!! I guess I should start by saying, the first time he took the test, he missed the cut off by 3 points, the second time, he missed by 1 point!!!! He was sooo ready to fail once more.
He took some online quizzes and never got more than a 78% and he needed an 80% to pass.
God took his two failures to teach him a BIG lesson! When Geoffrey called me this morning, I told him that he needs to pray that God's will is done in his life. I told Geoff that he needs to pray as he reads EVERY question. During his exam, he did pray and he realized that whatever happens the LORD is in control. By Geoff failing, he learned that his success is in the LORD and the LORD's awesome and amazing will. The Lord did more than help Geoff pass his EMT test, he helped Geoff learn that the Lord is in control.
Take this with you as you go through your day... and remember this as you fail.
Psalm 37:23 states, "If the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand"
Another verse, James 5: 11 reminds us that even in failure, the Lord is full of love, "As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. YOu have heard Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.
The Lord is full of compassion and mercy."
