Failure…is it so bad?

In our society we tend to want it all. We are so worried that something better might come along, so we choose nothing at all. The truth… perhaps we are simply afraid of failure…, maybe afraid of second best... Yet, that is what we end up with, when we fail to take risks.

So what is so wrong with failure…? What is so great about success…? Who is to be most admired, the supremely gifted athlete that comes in first or the sprinter with the prosthetic limb that comes in twentieth…? Is not what we do with what we have so much more valuable than the outcome…?

At the start of the movie Lorenzo’s Oil there is an African proverb and it states something to the effect that victory and defeat are in the hands of the gods and all that we can do is celebrate the struggle. It is how we face life that is in our hands, not the outcome.

God is in control of the end result.

The measure of who we are

is how we handle the journey

along the way.

Celebrate the struggle and leave the results to God.

It is fear that often freezes us in indecision. Like the servant who buries his talent for fear of loosing it (Matthew 25:24), we fear to take risks in life. Yet, as evidenced by that parable told by Jesus, we are called to take risks. God is the great risk taker and He invites us to join Him.

But wouldn’t a perfect God give perfect guidance…? Not if He wanted us to grow. Not if He wanted us to discover the individual he made us to be. Why grant individuality…? Why give diverse gifts and talents if the only answer to our lives is to have God tell us what to do in every decision…? If you make all your child’s decisions what kind of adult will he or she become…?

Perfection is for the dull, boring, and fearful. Be ye not conformed to the culture of perfection (Rom.12:2). Season your life with some failure and you will be a far more flavorful person. Seek to honor God in your decisions, be obedient to his direction, but do not be passive in your life- God has left many decisions to us and we will fail.

We can rejoice in failure for it is an opportunity for us to grow and show ourselves and the world who we really are. It is easy to be successful; it is hard to be God’s child in the midst of failure. God’s mercy and grace brought us to Him and are the only things that sustain us today.

Let us go and celebrate the struggle!

                                                Cliff