Without fail, we suffer failure.
Institutions, industry, economies, and products fail us.
People fail us. Family, friends, teachers, employers...even pastors fail.
Our willpower, morals, strength, and bodies fail. We fail ourselves, others, even God.
Failure is part of being human. Everyone fails.
Heroes of scripture the likes of Moses, David, Peter, and Paul all failed. Jesus experienced failure.
When you fail, you are in good company.
In 2013, something will fail. You have no choice in that.
But you do have a choice in how you respond to failure.
You can choose to be mad. Blame others. Seek vengeance. Feel sorry. Give up.
Or you can chose to learn from failures.
There's a lot that can be learned.
...about ourselves.
...about others.
...about God.
Failure can teach us of God's unfailing love for us, unfailing mercies, and unfailing capacity to save us.
God can use failures to help us, mature us, and improve every aspect of our lives.
In fact God can do so much good with our failures that we may end up thanking God for the failures!
I think of Jacob. He wrestled with God all night, and refused to let go until God blessed him. He was failing and hurting, but he held on until God blessed him. (See Genesis 31:22-39).
Similarly, when we experience failure, we should demand a blessing from God. Don't curse misfortune (or curse anyone else for that matter). Demand that God makes something good come from the failures.
Don't hold on to failure forever, but do hold on long enough to learn from it.
God will bless you.
Hope to see you Sunday.
Pastor David Gira
