Wierwille, V.P.-How to Avoid Being a Failure

How To Avoid Being A Failure Another Study in Abundant Living by VICTOR PAUL WIERWILLE This book is in the public domain. For more teachings by V. P. Wierwille, E. W. Bullinger and others, go to: www.eternallyblessed.org The simplicity of the Word of God, the Bible, is astounding. Most of us have too much theology and not enough practical believing. We are encased in so many negatives that even the positives are shrouded in darkness. We make God too difficult. Nobody wants to be a failure. God wills no failures — then, why be one? You don’t have to be, if you don’t want to. This is the exact meaning of this study.

You have read the story of the ten pieces of silver. How a certain woman lost one of the ten pieces, and how diligently she searched until she found it. After she came upon it, she called in all the neighbors and had a celebration because one woman, having lost a little piece of silver, worth a few cents in United States currency, finally found it. All the neighbors rejoiced with her. Can you imagine a little town in your section of the country getting excited over a few cents — let alone all the neighbors becoming so animated about it!

How did a woman avoid being a failure? Let us note Luke 15:8-10. "Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."

There are three interesting stories in the 15th chapter of Luke and all three deal with the same major subject. The first pertains to a shepherd having 100 sheep. Ninety-nine are safe and sound, but one is not. The third story is the one most people have erroneously called, "The Story of the Prodigal Son." It is not the story of a prodigal son, but the story of two prodigal sons, yet more appropriately, "The Story of the Forgiving Father." The second is a story of a woman who avoided being a failure because she found one little piece of silver. You may laugh but it is true — her husband would have tossed her out of the house had she not found the lost piece of silver. Thus she would have been a failure as far as the whole town, including both men and women were concerned. The pieces of silver are not merely ten ordinary pieces of money or ten coins with little significance — they are a most precious gift the bride receives from her bridegroom at the time of their marriage.

Each piece of silver is approximately the size of an American quarter. On one side of the piece of silver is engraved the coat of arms of the husband’s family, or the insignia by which that particular family is known. If the family crest happened to be a sheep, well fed, protected and safe, that is what would be engraved on one side of all ten of the pieces of silver. On the other side would be stamped the year in which it was made. The husband gives this special dowry to his wife on their wedding day. As for dollars and cents, it isn’t worth much, but the sentimental value is unlimited. If the wife lost one piece of silver and her father would say to his new son-in-law, "I’ll give you a thousand dollars," it would not be accepted, for money is no replacement for the lost piece of silver. In the days in which Jesus lived and today in the East, a woman may receive lavish gifts of jewelry at the time of marriage. All the jewelry a woman receives is her property and possession with the exception of the ten pieces of silver. She has all the legal rights to all of her jewelry, the husband has none. He can not take her jewelry away under any circumstances, with one exception: the husband has claim to only one jewel and that jewel is called the ten pieces of silver. This jewel, in the event of the husband’s death, must be handed back immediately to the husband’s side of the family. The jewel called the ten pieces of silver is worn by the wife only on very special occasions. Because of her love for her husband, she may put them on while her husband is away at work and gaze at herself in a mirror, appreciative of her husband’s gift and love. (Very rarely does a wife lose one of the ten pieces of silver.) Because they are so precious to her, she seldom wears them for fear of losing one. The 25th or 50th wedding anniversary would call for their wearing. Nothing less than the most outstanding occasion. When the wife does wear the ten pieces of silver jewelry, she wears five pieces of silver on one side of her head, towards the front of the head, and the other five pieces on the other side of her head. Each piece of silver has a little hook at the top. With these hooks the wife fastens the pieces of silver in her hair. Thus, you can understand how easily one piece, or a number of them, might become unhooked and, without her noticing it, she would lose them.

If she loses any of the pieces of silver, she will be put out of the house by her husband. The husband will not divorce her or be angry with her because of this, but simply expels the wife for she has disgraced him and his house and has brought reproach upon his family. Not because of the monetary value of the ten pieces of silver, but since the losing of one of the pieces of silver means the withdrawal of God’s favor upon the family, he dispossesses his spouse. The loss of a piece of silver is looked upon as a great curse on the whole family. God’s favor has been lost. Neither the husband nor the parents have spitefulness for her; but the wife will receive no sympathy from her husband, his parents or her in-laws. A million dollars, even though the ten pieces of silver may be worth only a few cents, given by the wife’s family to the husband, would not rectify matters. The whole town is concerned about her for they know the consequences of being dishonored and expelled. The women of the entire city know what she must endure. Therefore, when the wife finds the lost piece of silver and knows it is safe and secure, she calls in all of her neighbors to rejoice with her over the piece of silver which she has found. She avoided being a failure.

We avoid being a failure by putting first things first. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33. Seek anything else first and all things will be subtracted from you.

We are God’s most precious creation. He wants no failures and He makes no failures. His will for us is success in everything. The first step in this ladder of success on avoiding failure is for a sinner to repent. Who is the sinner that needs to repent? The lost jewel. Repentance is for the unsaved sinners; confession is for the saved sinner. God’s love, the Father’s heart, so yearns for the lost one that the Church will spend itself unreservedly, leaving nothing undone, in order to find the one precious lost jewel. Who is that one? We are, if we have not accepted Him.

You say, "What must I do?" The Father says, "Repent." How do you repent? Repentance is doing the will of God. It is not crying your eyes out, raising your hand, singing hymns, or running to an altar. All these may or may not be involved, yet they are not repentance. Repentance is to do what God says; and He says, "...if thou wilt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Romans 10:9. Repentance on your part is to confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour. It is to believe in your heart, your innermost being, that God has raised Jesus from the dead; that Jesus is resurrected and alive, yes, living for you and in you. That is repentance. It brings joy, not only to the angels in heaven, but also to the Father’s heart for a most precious lost jewel has been found; one more life has avoided failure. But you say, "Can I still do this? Can I rise up beyond all failure? Can I be sure?" Yes, you can be as sure as God Himself. For He is in His Word; He backs up His Word; He sees to it that His Word is performed; He is synonymous with His Word. A number of years ago there lived a great man whose source of inspiration was the one Book he loved above all others, the Bible. At the age of 32 he was defeated for the legislature. In the year 1831 he failed miserably in his business venture so at 33 he was bankrupt. At 43 he was defeated for Congress and at 48, for U. S. Senator. In 1855 he was defeated for the office of Vice-president. In 1860 he was elected President of these United States. In 1865 he was assassinated. Most of his life he was a so called failure, but this FAILURE was ABRAHAM LINCOLN. He knew how to avoid being a failure for he knew the priceless value of a lost piece of silver. By comparison let me tell you the story of a group of men who met at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago in the year 1923. Newspapers and magazines printed their success stories on how they had avoided being failures, and urged the young people of our nation to follow in their footsteps. Present at that meeting in 1923 was: the President of the world’s largest independent steel mill, the President of the largest utility company in the world, the greatest grain speculator, the President of the New York Stock Exchange, a member of the President’s cabinet, the greatest of the great on Wall Street, the President of the Bank of International Settlement, plus the head of the world’s greatest armament monopoly.

These eight men controlled more wealth than there is in the U. S. Treasury, yet 25 years later here is what happened. The President of the world’s largest independent steel company had died in bankruptcy, living on borrowed money the last five years of his life. The President of the largest utility company had died a fugitive from justice and penniless in a foreign land. The greatest grain speculator had died in a foreign country, unloved. The President of the New York Stock Exchange had been released from a federal penitentiary, humiliated and broken. The member of the President’s cabinet had been pardoned from prison to come home to die. The greatest bear on Wall Street died a suicide, as did the President of the Bank of International Settlement and the head of the world’s greatest armament monopoly.

It is not WHO you are, but WHAT you are. In Him you are complete. You are a son of God; a co-heir with Christ Jesus. You have resources unlimited. You are a branch attached to the Vine and the Life of the Vine is in the branch. With Him you can not fail; only succeed. Without Him you can not succeed — only fail. His invitation is to you, for it is to all, "Come unto me, all... and I will give..." "...lo, I am with you always..." "...I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Come! Avoid being a failure!