Failure is an important subject to study because many of us suffer a fear of how others see us rather than thinking about what God wants us to do. Partly, this is because within our American society, more so than others, we view any failure as a permanent mar against our esteem. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Failure, particularly when it involves sin, has consequences affecting you and others. When understanding God's amazing grace and His incredible forgiveness through Christ, a mature Christian grasps the concept that his or her failures are not the end of the world, nor permanent deterrents to salvation. To fail simply means you have serious or even troubled situations to strive to overcome or work through. Romans 3:23 teaches us; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Certainly, everyone dreams of being be successful in marriage, raising children, in the workplace, and in social interactions with friends and relatives. Have you ever met anyone who purposely set out to be a failure? That's why “How to Succeed” manuals and self-help books on zillions of topics are so widely read. Truth be known, in view of this, there is often an abundance of deep-seated defeatism in the lives of many Christians. None of us can expect to live trouble free lives. No, not one of us! It just ain't happening and will not happen 'till we get to live in heaven or on the new earth! But never fear—Christ can get us there.
Failures can grow entrenched roots arising and fertilized on many different grounds. Some are the results of specific sinful actions, but others are not. Some are simply the backwash of ignorance or uncontrollable circumstances like floods over a farmer's crops or the exact opposite, like no rainfall at all during the growing season. Naturally, this kind of failure, though painfully serious, is not as damning as spiritual failures.
Consciously or subconsciously, we often try to ignore our daily sins and life's insufficiencies because to acknowledge them is to admit failure. Fear of failure often paralyzes people into a state of no action at all. Those so affected—often refuse to tackle any meaningful evangelism or Church-based responsibilities out of fear of failure. People believe if they fail, they are no good. They think failure equates to being a bad person or a non-achiever. But, as previously mentioned, most of the great leaders in Scripture at some time in their careers experienced some sort of failure.
Thomas Edison is quoted as having said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” It is almost impossible to consider the lasting effects on our modern day lives had Edison quit after a mere 1,000 or 2,000 failing disappointments. Over his adult lifetime, he was awarded more than 2,300 patents here in the US of A and abroad. He developed hundreds of inventions distributed throughout the technologies of recorded sounds, telegraphy, telephony, electricity, and power.
Failure can defeat you. Let that sink in, but don't take it to heart as a preordained result in any circumstance. Failure can, and should, fortify you for the next challenge. Failure could not only strengthen you, but successfully overcoming failure(s) can tighten your bonds to our Lord and Savior.
Look who failed in the Bible. Adam and Eve failed. After all, they lived in a world more perfect than we will ever see in this life. Cain failed when he allowed feelings of rejection, envy, and jealousy's evil clutches to invade his thoughts, and he committed two unthinkable acts. We all remember that Cain killed Abel, but how many recall that Cain lied to God about Abel's whereabouts? When asked of Abel's whereabouts, Cain replied, “Who am I—my brother's keeper?” Yet despite of Cain's atrocious acts of murdering his innocent brother and falsehoods spoken directly to God, God placed a mark of protection on Cain so no one would attempt to kill him. Is not our God a loving and just God?
At the age of forty, Moses failed when, in anger, he killed the Egyptian man for flogging a Hebrew slave. Not only did his anger get the best of him, but he slyly looked to see if someone could see him before he struck the man dead. Then Moses buried the body and became a runaway fugitive. After knocking about for another forty years, when confronted by God's angel of the Lord appearing in the flames of fire from within a burning bush, Moses heard God's instructions but hesitated by saying, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Moses tried to use his stuttering or difficulties with speaking as an excuse not to take on God's mission.
Eventually, Moses accepted the task of convincing the king of Egypt to free the Hebrews and met with the elders of Israel. By himself, Moses could not convince King Ahmose the First to free the enslaved Jews, and that was another failing. It took ten plagues delivered by God before the king granted the release of the Hebrews, and even at that, King Ahmose quickly reneged. Due in part to the lack of leadership of Moses and the faithless complaints of the tribes of Israel, the lost people had to wander the desert lands for forty more years. Numbers 20:12-13 of the NKJV reports; Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” So Moses never got to go into the promised land. Of all the original people fleeing Egypt, only two Israelite men, Caleb and Joshua, escaped Egypt, passed through the Red Sea, wandered into the wilderness, and finally crossed the border of the promised land with ten other, younger, men before reporting back to Moses and the people. Does that mean there were more than 600,000 Hebrews who were failures, the ones that started out hoping to reach the promised land? All in all, the life of Moses would have to be categorized as one misadventure and mishap after another. Even his body was placed where no one will ever find it. In the case of Moses, you might say his accumulative failures proved to be fatal.
Not all the mistakes of biblical characters proved to be as fatal. Around 760 BC, Jonah's unwillingness caused him to flee from the message God gave him. God directed Jonah to go and preach to all the sinful citizens of Nineveh to influence them into changing their sinful ways. Jonah disobeyed God by boarding a ship headed towards Tarshish, the opposite way from Nineveh. Involved in the mists of a whale of a storm, perched on the brink of disaster with the frigate floundering in heavy seas, the ship's sailors became concerned for their lives. Jonah explained that God was bringing judgment upon himself. The sailors then threw him into the sea where he was swallowed by an enormous fish. “And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish for three days and three nights.” Jonah failed to flee from God's mission.
However, after being vomited upon the shore and trekking by foot and ass for more than 700 miles, Jonah came to Nineveh and cried out, “In forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown.” Yes, Jonah did finally follow God's command and preach to the brutally sinful people of Nineveh, an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia. At the beckoning of the Assyrian king, Nineveh's population did change its ways for approximately 100 years. That amount of time equated to five or six generations, but they failed to stay the true course of God and were destroyed in 612 BC by the Median Empire. It was the entire population of Nineveh that failed fatally, not Jonah.
Moving deeper into the New Testament, we can read of John Mark’s failure, which was the abandonment of the Holy Spirit's God given mission. Paul and Barnabas met with John Mark on their way to Antioch. Barnabas and Paul were returning from Jerusalem after they had fulfilled their ministry there, and they also took with them John, whose surname was Mark (Acts 12:25). From there, those two disciples traveled to Cyrus, bringing John Mark along with them as an assistant. (Acts 13:1–5) Somewhere along the way, John Mark decides that he’s had enough. After sailing to Perga, Acts 13:13 relates straightforwardly that John left them and returned to Jerusalem. Did he quit when the going got rough or was he off to tattle about Paul's acceptance of gentiles outside the Jewish synagogues? Of course, we don’t know exactly why John abandoned them, but some Bible scholars feel that it was not an honorable act.
We know Paul and Barnabas disagreed over whether John Mark should be taken with them on the second missionary journey. But why did Paul specifically choose to exclude John Mark? Acts 15.38 provides explicit insight. “Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.” John Mark's departure, in the mists of a mission, caused Paul not to trust him.
Apparently John Mark's failure was not a permanent breach in his relationship with Paul. Years later, as Paul was sitting in prison awaiting trial, he wrote a letter to the Church at Colossae, a church that was experiencing intense pressure from the sinful society around it. Heresy was making inroads into the church in the forms of Gnosticism and false doctrine. Paul's writings said that John Mark was with him and had provided great comfort, but he also asked them to welcome John Mark if he showed up. This man that had sorely disappointed Paul had now become a man who brought him comfort. At one time John Mark's personality caused a division in the body of the early Church, but then Paul gave John, and others, rave reviews by proudly inscribing, “Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, with Mark the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him), and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are of the circumcision; they have proved to be a comfort to me. (Colossians 4:10–11)
One of the most infamous failures was Peter’s denial of Christ. We learned of Peter's imprisonment, for the third time, around 44 AD. While some might call those stints in jail failures, they certainly were not. Peter's miraculous release by a heaven sent angel turned his incarceration into testimonies of Peter's faith and the wondrous workings of God's plans and supernatural powers. Being placed behind bars was an overall success for spreading the Good News and was a likely foundation for several conversions to the Christian way of life for numerous prisoners.
Loud and impetuous, Peter was known among Jews and believers alike. It’s no wonder that he’d joined with James and John as some of Jesus' closest confidants. In fact, he was the only disciple impetuous enough to mimic Jesus walking on the water (Matt. 14:28–29). Matthew also informs us that Peter was the first to call out to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
When Jesus foretold the fact that Peter will deny him, Peter, in pride or ignorance, disavowed that disparagement. But after Jesus was seized that night, Peter was confronted in the courtyard by a Sanhedrin who accused him of being a follower of Christ. Then, just as our Lord predicted, Peter renounced knowing Jesus three times—the third time cursing his accusers for claiming differently. Yes, apostle Peter, though forewarned, thrice denied his Master at the first sign of his personal danger; yet our Master, who knew his strength of nature, as well as all infirmities and shortcomings, still picked Peter as a leader to the Churches. When Peter realized what he had done, he broke down and wept passionately (Mark 14:66-72). Peter was certainly aware of his failures and betrayal of Christ.
However, like Paul, John, and Jonah, Peter’s failures did not exclude them from Christ’s plans. Nor will any failure committed by believers keep them from receiving Christ's love and salvation.? Failure doesn’t disqualify you, even if you’ve been a follower of Jesus Christ for only an instant or the majority of your life.”
Not succeeding, from day to day, or in some cases, moment to moment is only a musing of our human shortfalls. But “failure” is when we seem wholly defeated and cannot imagine pulling our act together to press our efforts forward again. By virtue of our relationship with God, though forever blessed, Christians are not exempt from failure, trouble, or massive disappointments. The truth is God often allows us to fail or the devil to meddle and muck up our lives. Job 14:1 says, “Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.” That doesn’t just point to “unbelievers” or “the ungodly.” Job is saying every person born will experience trouble and strife before our days expire. Does that really mean everyone? Yes! Every life can be filled with the challenges of troubles in a hundred ways. Even for us who belong to God through faith in Christ. We are told to expect it. Just because we believe in Him, God did not promise our lives to be trouble free. But to a large part, how we react to problems, pains, sorrows, and, yes, even outright failures is up to us.
A study of Bible characters reveals that most of those who made history were men who failed at some point, and some of them drastically, but who refused to lay downtrodden in the dirt and dust. Usually, their very failures, coupled with sincere repentance, bonded them under the grace of God. They learned to know Him not only as the God of second chances but uncountable chances for those who had failed themselves and failed Him. His grace is extended to nonbelievers as well as believers—one only has to accept Jesus by faith, then all sins, faults, and failures are forgotten.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, in similar phrases, give testimony to—whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” By saying, “Shake the dust from your feet,” Jesus meant for them to move on and strive forward. Witnessing sincerely but being rejected can make anyone feel like a failure, but we must understand what we are to expect: “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me (Jesus) before it hated you. That tells me we all can expect our message of the Gospels to fall on some closed ears of hateful people. If you speak to 100 or more people, with the Holy Spirit only convicting one, that is not failure, that is a success. What sometimes appears as failures can oftentimes become badges of honor.
Do not accept the guilt of failure because you have an erroneous view of success. Many missionaries have dedicated years of their lives laboring in foreign countries without a lot of obvious successes. Think of Isaiah. After seeing the Lord, and confessing his own sin, after saying, “Here am I, send me” God dispatched him to preach to people who told him they refused to listen. Those hard-hearted sinners probably laughed at Isaiah and thought him a total failure. But that's not what God thought!
Luke in chapter 9, verses 1 through 5 describes how Jesus commissioned His disciples to preach the gospel and perform miracles. More significantly than almost anything, Jesus wanted them to be bold in God's Word. However, He knew that not everyone would accept the truth about Him, and His forthcoming resurrection. So Jesus taught them how to handle failure. Wanting His twelve disciples to model themselves after himself, He gave them power over the devil and his minions. They had the power to cure illnesses, cast out demons, and preach God's word with authority. Additionally, Jesus later delegated some of these abilities to the Seventy disciples, His early emissaries mentioned in the Gospel of Luke chapter 10. According to Luke, the only gospel in which they appear, Jesus appointed them and sent them out in pairs on specific missions. He commanded the Seventy disciples to go out and heal the sick as they proclaim the kingdom of God to the lost.
Jesus gave the Seventy such detailed instructions, a major portion of Luke chapter 10 bears repeating:
After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.
Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.”
Notice how Jesus emphasized, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few...” Our Lord Jesus wants us to evangelize to the world, even as sheep among the wolves. Jesus forewarns us many will not accept our message and as before tells the Seventy disciples and us: ‘But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ Jesus is not speaking of failures. He who knows all is forewarning us we will not be successful all the time. But each soul won represents an eternity of joyful bliss and complete adoration of God.
The closing verses of Luke chapter 10 reports: Now it happened as they went that Jesus entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away.”
Can it be said that Martha failed before she began? Oh, for sure she was a wonderful, hard-working hostess. One can easily imagine her home was spit-shined to spotlessness. Which would seem terribly hard to manage with no glass in your windows. Let's all be optimistic and say she had cooked up a storm, made all the beds, beat all the rugs, swept all the floors, topped off all the oil lamps and trimmed their wicks. But she missed the biggest point of all, didn't she? Jesus was there and speaking of things all people needed to know. Don't think by any means I am dismissing the necessity for good hostessing and housekeeping. Not at all. And the same type of failing mistakes Martha made, are repeated day in and day out by both genders of the working class as well as the rich and famous. God's message of the Christ Jesus should be first in all our lives.
Romans chapter 8 begins by documenting these truths:
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
As unpleasant and stern as it may sound, any action or inaction, any commission of sin or any sin of omission, anything at all that displeases God is a failure. How many times have we failed God since our last gathering in Church or Bible study? As for myself, the number is incalculable.
Even as the flesh is condemned, the Holy Spirits' message is of hope. An assured hope! Romans 8 continues with these assurances for all who believe in Jesus Christ.
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are 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. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“For Your sake, we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Wow! I love those last couple of verses. Don't you? What assurances that nothing of Satan's can cause us to be permanent failures or steal our right to salvation! What is it then that might prevent us from knowing Jesus or separate us from the love of Christ? Will it be our very next failure? Or the tornado that takes out our home or the home of a relative? Will it be so called friends who shame us because we are Christians and are willing to stand up and speak like Christians on social matters that are sinful and have severely detrimental effects on our community and country? Do we become enamored by sin, lusts, and while perverse ideas penetrate our home via the television or movie DVDs? We were warned, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we can share complete victory through him who loved us.
Nor should any past failures pin us down permanently. Never allow failure to make you believe you are worthless, or can not ever be counted on to work for our God and Savior. For instance, I would be a poor choice to supervise a parsonage daycare with dozens of youngsters and tiny tots running around helter-skelter. That job description is certainly not listed in my resume or in my capability repertoire. But I can clean up the worship area after a service or tear down or put up tables and chairs in the community center. Even if I have reactions to the high densities of pollen in this area, I can still mask up and mow the grass or tidy up the Church landscape. Right? If I can do a variety of useful things, so can you.
“Victory in Jesus” is a favorite hymn for many Christians because in our belief in Jesus there is victory for us. Victory over everything, every trouble, everyone, and all demons. No matter how many failures you have succumbed to, or shed, or ones that will still burden you to your final dying breath—Christ our Savior conquerors all. For proof, one needs to read only Romans 8:37, where Paul wrote; Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
Who has lived a life that didn't have a few failures along the way? Whether you’ve been walking with him faithfully for years or you’ve had a few stumbles along the way—God is encouraging you to help enlarge His Kingdom.
In conclusion, do not make excuses for sin or place too much concern on individual failures, perceived inadequacies, or what you believe to be insurmountable catastrophes. To be in the right frame of mind, do some mental word substitutions, then you might be on the cusp of successes beyond what you could imagine. Do not say you have failed or blundered, instead think of something to help motivate yourself, like, “I'll overcome that challenge right now or next time.” Instead of reinforcing your shortcomings, consider, “I'll practice or study more to increase my confidence.” When you run up against a task you feel is insurmountable, back up a step and figure out a good way around the problem so you can get to a comfortable conclusion. The only way that the devil can get the last laugh is if you choose to let him. We serve a God who can take our defeats and missteps and still use us to bring glory to His name. So, above all repent your sins and pray to God to give you strength, patience, and wisdom. Do that because—if you accept failure—then, and only then, you will find out that you have truly been defeated.
The End, Amen
