Everyone wants to win. I get it. I want to win too. I passed every exam from primary school to Master’s Degree. It was fun until I had to resit for ACCA Audit and Assurance paper, not once but passed after fourth attempt.
Failure isn’t God’s best for us. However, it’s necessary because of the lessons He wants us to Learn. If all we expect is win-win, then we would become vulnerable to the enemy’s attack. Satan is vicious and terrible so Daddy sometimes toughens us up for two reasons:
- To help ourselves
- To help others who are caught in the trap of Failure
Let’s consider Paul’s statement to Timothy;
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith
(2 Timothy 4:7, KJV)
Two words to consider from Paul’s statement are: Fight and Keep. We Fight, We Keep. Good things don’t come easy. We Fight, We Push through, We Persevere, We Persist, We don’t back down.
And after you have Fought for it, You Keep it. it’s easy to lose things you don’t fight for. But when you remember what you went through to Achieve your successes, you are determine to protect, defend, or guard whatever it might be.
Sometimes that’s what Failure does. In my case, I thought passing exam was an easy thing to do. Just sit, study, and pass. I always relied on Self and my own strategies. I thought of myself as the smart guy until Failure set in. I believe God allowed Failure to reshape my perception, and to realize that It was the Power, Mercy, and Grace of God that made me successful in previous exams. I learnt my lessons and Fought through. I didn’t SETTLE.
Lessons from my Failure:
- Failure is a point of reflection:
- It’s time to reflect on what went wrong and to seek God’s guidance
- When Joshua failed against Ai, he went to seek answers from God
- It’s also time to assess the methodology. It could be flawed
- God uses Failure to shift our focus back to Him:
- It easy to think that our strength, connections, or resources made us successful
- Depending on self could be fatal because if satan strikes against your health (strength), what would be left of you?
- When you head on that direction, God permits failure to get you back to trusting Him
- It makes us strong for the battle:
- God never promised an easy journey. He only said that He would be with us
- Every failure teaches you one more way of doing things right
- It teaches you to realise that “Everything worthwhile in life is uphill” as said by John Maxwell
- It becomes your message to encourage others who fail:
- People are failing everyday and they need help
- I remember friends who called me to talk about failing their Professional exam. When I told them about attempting Four times, it was enough encouragement for them to Try Again.
- Your failure today could be your message tomorrow, next week, month, or even decades to come.
Your destiny is worth fighting for. Your Faith in God should be Kept. Don’t allow the enemy to shift your stance on God’s word. Always remember that If God permits Failure, then it means there are lessons to learn. Pick yourself up, Learn fast, and Move on. Try Again.
Maybe this year has been though. You’ve checked the calendar and thought It’s Over, It’s too Late, I Can’t. This is Self talking to you. Remember that No one can succeed by strength alone. Get back to God, and like Joshua, He will show you what to do in order to Succeed in your next Attempt. Don’t give up, Try Again.
Uplifting Christ 