Intro: Did you get the chance to watch the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” over Christmas or New Years? I did - we have it on video and we normally watch it every year. Remember the story - God sends Clarence Oddbody, angel 2nd class, down to help George Bailey. George is about to take his life, and Clarence helps him remember how many other lives he has touched. In the end of the movie, Clarence leaves a book for George, Mark Twain, and he inscribes, “Remember, No man is a failure who has friends.”
I don’t know about the theology of that statement, but I know it has meant a lot to me through the years. Friends mean much to us in our lives. But this morning, I don’t want to think about friends, but about failure.
Have you ever been to the point George Bailey was, where you despaired so much you wanted to take your life? Maybe not, but most of us have been to the point where we felt like a failure. Especially at the beginning of the year, it’s easy to feel like a failure. Maybe you made some new year’s resolutions: maybe that 1000 calorie diet just got ruined by some double-chocolate Mocha ice cream. Maybe that goal of walking a mile every day fell by the wayside. Maybe the decision to read your Bible got way-laid by the new novel you’re reading. It’s easy to feel like a failure. Maybe some of us here today are feeling like a failure. This morning I’d like us to consider the wisdom of the Bible about this subject.
I. Why We Feel Like a Failure
The good news is that the Bible is filled with people who felt like failures. And some of these failures were some of the godliest individuals who walked the closest to God. We think about some of the great saints of the Bible: Abraham, Elijah, David, Peter. Often we think “I could never be a great saint like that” but the truth is they were human just like us. So, where do we see failure in the scriptures?
Let’s use for a text this morning 1 Kings 19. Here we see the great prophet Elijah, the prophet who had prayed and it didn’t rain for 3 years, the prophet who challenged all the prophets of Baal and called down fire from heaven: this is a man in touch with God, a man of great power. But here in this chapter, we see he is depressed and discouraged.
READ 1 Kings 19:1-18
Why do people feel like failures? With Elijah we see
*he focused on himself - he thought he was the only one doing right - he was having a pity party.
*he focused on his obstacles - he was worried about Queen Jezebel and her power. It’s funny that the man who called fire out of heaven would worry about the queen who’s men had just been killed as failures. But often depressed people don’t think right.
*he was ruled by his feelings - his depression came from fear. Satan played upon his fears to make him feel like a failure.
*he failed to trust God’s protection. Anytime we stop trusting God, we end up feeling like a failure. Remember one time Jesus told his disciples they were going to the other side of the lake. Jesus went to sleep in the boat. A storm came up, and the disciples were afraid. Jesus woke up, rebuked the storm, brought quiet, and asked his disciples why they had such little faith.
*we focus on our own abilities. God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush. He told him to go set his people free. Moses first response was “who am I” to which God replied “I will go with you.” Next he said, “What if they don’t believe me” to which God showed him the power to change his rod to a snake and the ability to cause leprosy to come and go. Next he said, “I’m not a good speaker.” But God said, “I’ll send Aaron with you, he’s a good speaker.”
*often we feel like failures when we see our marriages, families, jobs, homes, situations in life are less than desirable. We are overwhelmed by feelings of loneliness, inadequacy, despair. We all feel like failures. The big question is what can we do about it?
II. How we Overcome Failure
This morning I would like to suggest several steps to help us in overcoming feelings of failure. The Bible has much to say, and we could talk for weeks about this, but this morning I’ll offer just a few suggestions.
A. Adjust to God’s Focus - so often our feelings of failure come from a focus on ourselves and our own abilities. Rather, we need to purposely redirect our thinking to see things as God sees them. We need to remember that God is still in control of our lives.
Rom. 8:28 - We know God is working all things for the good of those who love him
Eph. 3:20 reminds us that God is able to do far more than we could ask or think.
Joseph told his brothers, they meant it for evil when they sold him into slavery, but God meant it for good. Let’s remember that God is the one in control.
It doesn’t matter if your boss doesn’t like you, remember the heart of the king, and your boss also, is in the hand of the Lord. {Prov. 21:1}
B. Accept God’s Forgiveness - sometimes we feel like a failure because we have failed. We have done something that we know really blew it. At these times we need to remember that the forgiveness of God is great.
Remember Peter, one of Jesus’ key disciples, who drew the sword and cut of Malchus’ ear to defend Jesus. Yet, later by the fire three times he denied his Lord. Yet, Jesus comes to Peter after the resurrection, and three times gives him something to do. Peter went out and wept bitterly, realizing he was a failure. But Jesus had already told him that he was praying for him. Jesus comes and reclaims a failure and gives him a task to do. Peter was used to lead the church on the day of Pentecost and thereafter.
If we have blown it in some way, let’s seek the forgiveness of God and find a new start.
Ex. 34 - Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.
1 John 1: 9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
C. Increase your Faith - Sometimes our feelings of failure are overcome by increasing our faith in our God. Sometimes we simply need to step out in faith and trust God more. Sometimes we feel like a failure because we have failed to trust God.
Remember in Judges 7 Gideon rallies together an army to fight the Midianites. He has 32,000 soldiers. Yet God reduces the size until only 300 are left. God said he wanted them to know that it was he that had won the battle. Often we need to step out and trust God more.
D. Allow Friends to Offer Help - One of the greatest helps we find in times of pain and frustration and failure, besides God and his word, is our friends. Often we feel like a failure because we try to do everything ourselves. Looking back to Elijah and his feelings of despair, let’s look at what God tells him.
READ 1 Kings 19:15-18
God told Elijah to get some help. We all can use encouragement. That’s why there are so many verses in the Bible that talk about our relationships to one another. We are to encourage one another, support one another, pray for one another, bear one another’s burdens.
E. Anticipate God’s Future Plans - The final step we’ll consider this morning is the fact that God wants to use each one of us to accomplish his purposes. Even after Peter denied him, Jesus commissioned him with a job to do. May times we need to look back and remember how God has worked in our lives in the past. Moses, standing before Pharaoh, could remember the burning bush that was not consumed, and he could draw strength to defy the mightiest ruler of his day. We need to remember that the God who worked in our lives in the past is the same God who wants to work in our lives today. Are we looking for the hand of God in our lives today?
Concl: Are we looking at things the way God sees them, or are we viewing them from our own distorted viewpoint? When we rely on our own abilities, when we look at things from our own perspectives, it’s easy to feel like a failure. Trusting in God helps us realize that we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
