THE FAILURE’S NOT IN GOD
IT’S IN ME
1 Samuel 15:3
Have you ever failed at something? Have you ever felt like a failure? Somebody in here today is having a failed marriage, a failed relationship, a failed job. Somebody’s children are failing them, and some children are failing in school.
I want you to notice today that man was created to have dominion on the earth. Dominion means to rule or to have authority over. So man was created to have ruler ship or authority over all the earth. Man was not created to fail.
Man fail because we do not do what God created us to do. Everything that God created does what God created it to do except man. The sun still rises every morning, the moon and stars still come out at night. The clouds are still in the sky and the trees and plants still grow in the wind. But man fails because he is disobedient to God. When you notice that things are not going right and they are failing, the first thing you should do is find out what cause that thing to fail.
If your marriage is failing evidently you are not doing something that you are suppose to be doing. If your car is failing I think you better check under the hood. If your church is failing than the problem must be inside the church. For Jesus said "Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." You can work around the problem to temporarily fix it, but if you don’t fix the cause, the problem will eventually come back.
Sometimes before you can correct a failure, you have to find out what caused the failure in the first place. You can try to work around a problem to temporarily fix it, but if you don’t fix the cause, the problem will eventually come back again.
Sometime, in emergencies, you only have time to temporarily deal with problems. I watched a man who was working on his car. He couldn’t find out what caused the problem until he brought the car into the shop, so he had to work around the problem just to get the car to work long enough to get it into the shop. He could only fix it temporarily.
A lot of folk are trying to deal temporarily with their problems instead of getting hold of the Word of God and going straight to the shop (which is the church) and getting down on their knees and fasting and praying and going straight to the root of the problem. They may overcome the failure, but they never find out why they failed and correct the cause of their problems.
One cause of failure is not doing what God told you to do. In 1 Sam. we read about Saul who failed to do what God Said. God told Saul to utterly destroy all the Amalekties had, and spare them not (1 Sam. 15:3). But Saul spared the Amalekite king, the best sheep and oxen and tried to sacrifice them to the Lord. But God said to destroy everything. That’s why Samuel told Saul "Obedience is better than sacrifice." and God rejected Saul from being King. Saul failed because he didn’t obey what God had told him to do.
Another reason people sometimes fail is that they don’t count the cost. LUKE 14:28-30. In the context of this passage. Jesus was talking to the multitudes about following him. He wanted them to understand exactly what was involved in being his disciple. They had to be willing to follow Him completely. We need to realize today that we must also be willing to follown the Lord completely. 99 1/2 just won’t do. You got to go all the way. You see, salvation is free, but what’s going cost you is trying to live this christian life. Jesus left his home in glory to come all the way down to a mean and sinful world. He hung, bled and died on the cross that you and I might be saved. It cost him something and it’s going to cost us something. No cross no crown, no pain, no gain. No work, no pay.
James 1:2,3. According to the Book of James, we will face different tests or trials in life and our faith will be tried. But it also says that we should count it all joy, knowing it will work patience in us. If you give up and lose your joy at the first sign of adversity, of course you will fail. That’s when patience come in. Sometimes you have to persevere through failure and try again and again before you succeed.
Imagine if Thomas Edison had quite because of failure. They tell me that it wasn’t until the ten-thousandth attempt that he invented the light bulb. Think about it. He tried at least 10,000 times. Most of us would have given up after the 2nd or 3rd time. But Edison kept believing, and he kept on trying. What if Michael Jordan would have given up after he missed a few baskets? Bro. Jordan kept on believing and trying. What if Mike Tyson would have given up after he lost his first boxing match? But Bro. Tyson kept on believing and trying. The 3 Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abindigo. They didn’t give up, but they said "I know that God is able to deliver us from the fiery furnance, and if he doesn’t, he’s still able." What if they would have given up. Paul and Silas in the Jail house, they didn’t give up but they tell me they kept singing and praying and at midnight, the jail house flew wide open. What if Jesus would have given up out there on Calvary’s hill. He didn’t give up, but he said Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.
After you realize where you’ve made the mistake, you need to go back to where you made the wrong turn. Repent, and then start walking with God again. A few years ago, a friend of mine and I waw on our way to Sacramento. We stopped for gas and I told him how to get back on the freeway. I had worked all day and I fell asleep on the passengers side. I woke up about 2 hours later and when I looked up I saw a sign says welcome to Mexico.
Some of us have done the same thing with God. We made a wrong turn in our walk with the Lord and we kept going.
I just stopped by to tell you today that if you’ve made the wrong turn with God, you need to get back on the right street. Somebody call it straight street. The bible says that "Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction". "But narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and every now and then you will find a traveler." On that straight street, you woun’t find any liars, on that straight street, you won’t find any backbitters...
Stay on that straight street. Somebody once said "Winners never quit, and quitters never win." The way you become a winner in Chirst over your failures to to never quit believing God. Never give up standing on God’s Word. Heaven and earth may pass away, but God word will never fail.
There will be times when you won’t have anyone to courage you. There will be times when your friends may turn your back on you. There may be times when the church folk just don’t won’t to act right. There may be times when you have trouble in your home, trouble on your job, trouble on the school yard. But I just stopped by to tell you today. The preachers may not always be around to tell you to go head. Sometimes it will seem as if you’re all alone. The devil may have kicked you, slapped both sides of your face, and knocked you in the head. But that’s the time to look up and say "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Failure may come in life, but that doesn’t mean you have to give in to failure. The Word of God says you are victorious in Christ Jesus. The next time you are faced with failure, meet it head on with the Word of God, because God’s Word will never fail. It will abided in you, it will give you victory. Just keep the faith and keep holding on Jesus will always make you strong because God’s word will never fail.
We the people of God posses a covenant which cannot fail; fire cannot destroy it, in fact it will stand alone in the empty air. We the people of God possess a covenant which is built on a foundation of amendments that are, according to that great Prophet Isiah in his 40th chapter, verse 20 from everlasting to everlasting. We the people of God know that in spite of drugs, murder, injustice, and prejudice, our God, our Creator, our King, our Leader, our Savior governs all creatures. We the people of God have the assurance that our Leader has the power to release any situation that may befall us. We the people of God heard our father in Isaiah 35:4 saying to all his people "Be strong, fear not, behold your God will come with vengeance." We the people of God know that the presence of God is big enough, firm enough, to silence all our fears." We the people of God know that one of these days he’s going to wipe away all our tears from our eyes.
When peace like a river attendeth our way
When sorrows like sea billows roll,
Whatever our lot, God has taught us to say
It is well, it is will with our souls.
