Failure in Christian preaching is often portrayed not as an end but as a necessary step toward growth, learning, and ultimate success in God's plan. Illustrations use images like stepping-stones, setbacks, and repeated trials to show how grace and perseverance transform failure into spiritual achievement (Philippians 3:13-14; 2 Corinthians 12:9).
Failure can lead to unexpected great achievements beyond original intentions.
Christopher Columbus was obsessed with the idea that he could get to the East by traveling west, but by sailing west he never did reach India. He failed, but changed the course of history by discovering America, a great achievement. If you set out to do something great enough, what you do incidentally may be of more significance than that which is accomplished on purpose by someone else.
Early failure does not prevent later success in God’s plan for life.
Phillips Brooks became a teacher in Boston Latin School, a position for which he seemed preeminently qualified. He lasted only a few months. His headmaster commented that Phillips "had in him no single element of a successful school teacher" and set Phillips packing with the conclusion that he had never known a man who failed as a schoolmaster to succeed in any other occupation. He had failed at the age of 20. Phillips Brooks overcame that failure, however, to become one of the finest pulpiteers in all of American history. No failure need be final.
Failure can motivate new levels of achievement and purpose beyond initial setbacks.
Frank Laubach learned to live above his failure. At 45, missionary Frank Laubach was a theological seminary professor in the Philippines. He was next in line for president of the seminary. However, the board selected someone else. Laubach took off for the hills to sulk. He was angry about the unfairness of life and God's seeming lack of justice. He was a failure in his own eyes. Was that the end of his story? Not on your life. Frank developed in his solitude a technique for teaching hundreds of millions of people throughout the world to read for the first time. He became the father of the modern literacy movement. A failure, Frank Laubach learned to live above that failure, and on that new level, he found how to achieve excellence.
Failure is a necessary step toward success and learning, not a reason for pride or quitting.
Thomas A. Edison recorded 1,093 patents. Most of these inventions were impractical or unmarketable. They were failures. But a man who invented the phonograph, the mimeograph, and the electric light bulb could afford a lot of failures. He was so inept in business matters that he lost control of the profitable companies that he founded, and yet in the depths of the depression, he died with an estate of $2,000,000. Edison was a successful failure. It is obvious that you learn as you fail. You also grow as you fail, but you must dare to fail. If you can fail enough, you will learn a lot; but if you are too proud to fail, then you will not enjoy success.
Repeated failures can lead to eventual success and fulfillment of God's purpose.
Abraham Lincoln was considered by many Americans as a most successful president. It was strange that he was a man marked for failure, a man suffering from melancholia, who endured long periods of depression throughout his life. He could barely see out of one eye. He had frequent nervous attacks, severe headaches, indigestion and nausea. He had a couch placed near his desk in the White House so he could quickly lie down when one of his spells came over him. When Lincoln was 10 years old he was kicked in the head by a horse and experts now believe that the skull was severely fractured, leaving him with lifelong problems. When he came to deliver the now famous address at Gettysburg, he was coming down with smallpox. Lincoln failed in business in 1831, was defeated for the legislature in 1832. The next year he suffered another business defeat and in 1836 had a nervous breakdown. He failed to be elected speaker in 1838, was defeated for elector in 1840, and for Congress in 1843, as well as in 1848. Lincoln failed to be elected to the Senate in 1855, and was defeated for the Vice Presidency in 1856 and for the Senate in 1858. However, being elected President in 1860, he could afford all those failures. Abraham Lincoln was truly a successful failure. Some people are slow starters and may discover God's purpose late in life. Moses was 80 years old when he began his life's work. All that time God was preparing him to do one thing-lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. It could be that you are living to accomplish only one great task for God, and that all the rest of your life is merely preparation for that great heroic responsibility.
Many great leaders failed repeatedly but succeeded by persevering and learning from failure.
When the great Polish pianist, Ignace Paderewski, first chose to study the piano, his music teacher told him his hands were much too small to master the keyboard. When the great Italian tenor, Enrico Caruso, first applied for instruction, the teacher told him his voice sounded like the wind whistling through the window. When the great statesman of Victorian England, Benjamin Disraeli, attempted to speak in Parliament for the first time, members hissed him into silence and laughed when he said, "Though I sit down now, the time will come when you will hear of me." Henry Ford forgot to put a reverse gear in his first car. Albert Einstein failed his university entrance exams at his first attempt. Thomas Edison spent $2,000,000 on an invention which proved to be of little value. Very little comes out right the first time. Failures, repeated failures, are fingerprints on the road to achievement. Abraham Lincoln's life could demonstrate that the only time you do not fail is the last time you try something and it works. We can "fail forward" toward success. Who Has Not Failed? The Apostle Paul failed; Peter failed; every one of the twelve apostles failed. David, Israel's greatest king, "a man after God's own heart," failed. Moses, giant among the Israelites, giver of the law, deliverer of his people, failed. Jacob, father of Israel, failed; Isaac, son of promise, failed. Abraham, progenitor of Israel, father of the faithful, prototype of those who are righteous through faith, failed. Even our first parents, in their human perfection, failed. Who has not failed? It is not failing that is the problem; it is what one does after he has failed. To take failure as final is to be a failure. To see in failure the school of the Spirit is to let failure contribute to one's growth in Christ.
Setbacks are part of progress; success comes from learning and pressing on despite failures.
Booker T. Washington said, "Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed." By taking two steps forward and one step back, we still continually move closer to the goal. A man who makes no mistakes is one who does nothing. Failure, disappointments, and setbacks are a part of life. We must learn not to identify with our failures. There are many, many examples of people who overcame backward steps. Abraham Lincoln ran for political office seven times and was defeated each time. Bobby Kennedy failed third grade and could not even take care of his own paper route. Babe Ruth struck out more times than any other baseball player. Ed Gibson, one of the astronauts on the Skylab III mission, failed first and fourth grades. Learn from your mistakes, but identify with your success. Press on, confident in your own ability to succeed, backed by the power of God. Never forget that people who accomplish great things believe they can do it. When All Else Fails, Read the Instructions We are so good at doing things our own way. Then, when they do not work out, we turn to God and say, "Help! Now what do I do?" We are so foolish, for if we had read His instructions in the first place, we wouldn't have had the problem in the second place. "Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee." That's a powerful thought!
The futile quest for the philosopher's stone illustrates the failure of worldly pursuits.
Fuller relates, that "one Thomas Charnock, in pursuance of the philosopher's stone, which so many do touch, few catch, and none keep, met a very sad disaster. Once, when he was on the point of completing the grand operation, his work unhappily fell into the fire." "This," says M. Disraeli, "is a misfortune which I observe has happened to all alchemists."
A gifted man’s life spiraled through failure before finding purpose in writing.
An illustration is furnished in the history of Combe, the unhappy author of "Dr. Syntax in Search of the Picturesque." "We find," says a reviewer in "The Companion to the Library," "this improvident man, and all within a few years, figuring as a boy at Eton; a scholar at Oxford; a student in the Temple, with a very handsome independent fortune; a barrister pleading with success; a man of fashion intimately associating with lords and ladies, and calling himself (from his courtly dress and splendid liveries) 'the Duke;' and then an outcast spendthrift; a private soldier; a novice in a French monastery, playing the monk to get his bread for the time being; a strolling player; a gentleman's servant; and a waiter at an inn at Swansea. It was after all these metamorphoses, that he turned himself into an author. His last scene of all was the King's Bench; there he wrote 'Syntax' and some other works; and there he died, after an imprisonment (for debt) of twenty years."
Ambitious plans often contrast sharply with the reality of failure and loss.
Bonaparte, referring to the siege of Acre, says: "I see that this paltry town has cost me many men, and occupies much time; but things have gone too far not to risk a last effort. If we succeed, it is to be hoped we shalfind in that place the treasures of the pasha, and arms for three hundred thousand men. I will raise and arm the whole of Syria, which is already greatly exasperated by the cruelty of Djezzar, for whose fall you have seen the people supplicate Heaven at every assault. I advance upon Damascus and Aleppo; I recruit my army by marching into every country where discontent prevails; I announce to the people the abolition of slavery, and of the tyrannical government of the pashas; I arrive at Constantinople with armed masses; I overturn the dominion of the Mussulman; I found in the East a new and mighty empire, which shall fix my position with posterity; and perhaps I return to Paris by Adrianople or Vienna, having annihilated the house of Austria." What a wide difference between what he then anticipated and what he subsequently experienced!
Many fail because they lack ability, patience, and perseverance to reach their goals.
See AGGRESSION; SALOON, FIGHTING THE.
ATTAINMENT, SUPERFICIAL
There are men who attempt to rise in the social scale without any apparent fitness for the larger place aspired to. Many start off on a course, but lack ability, patience and pluck to persevere and so fail of their goal, as the following somewhat humorous illustration suggests:
Attorney William S. Barnes, of San Francisco, has a new office boy. The last boy with whom he was associated resigned a few days ago because the law business did not suit his peculiar temperament.
“How long have you been here?” asked Barnes, when the small boy made known his intention to engage in a different vocation.
“Six months,” replied the boy.
“And you don’t like the law business?”
“Naw. It’s no good, and I tell you straight, I’m mighty sorry I learned it.”
Many inventions fail, symbolizing dashed hopes and the pain of wasted effort.
There are thousands upon thousands of models at the Patent-office of inventions that are of absolutely no use whatever. They represent the blasted hopes and often the ruined fortunes of innumerable inventors who invested their time and money in worthless ideas. The models forwarded by these inventors to the Patent-office form a sort of museum by themselves, and those who wish to look a bit beneath the surface can find a story abounding in genuine pathos lurking in pretty nearly every one of these foolish inventions. (Text.)--New York _Evening Sun_.
Great opportunities wasted lead to lives that end in disappointing failure.
Caligula once fitted out a fleet at great expense, as if to conquer Greece or to accomplish some other great undertaking, but the ships returned laden with pebbles and cockleshells, only to receive the scorn of all.
So many a life that is well equipped and has glorious opportunities flattens out into insipid nothingness.
Apparent failure can lead to unexpected success and new opportunities.
See DEFEAT; NEGLECT; SUCCESS IN FAILURE; SORROW FOR A LOST CAUSE.
FAILURE LEADING TO SUCCESS
It is part of the compensation of life that nearly every dark cloud of disaster or disappointment has a fringe of light under it. An instance of this is seen in the career of Senator Beveridge:
It was a joke that sent United States Senator Beveridge, of Indiana, into public life instead of into the army. He took the competitive examination, but at a critical moment he laughed at another boy’s sportive remark and failed to pass by the smallest fraction. We are told by one chronicler that young Beveridge was so badly upset when the news reached him on the street that he had failed to pass that his distress was mirrored on his face so plainly that a passing acquaintance stopt to ask him the cause, and was himself so touched that he forthwith offered to advance him the money necessary to start him in college.
What seems like failure in battle is actually a step toward freedom and new life.
These cheering lines are from _Success_:
There is no failure. If we could but see Beyond the battle-line; if we could be Where battle-smoke does ne’er becloud the eye, Then we should know that where these prostrate lie Accoutered in habiliments of death, Sweet Freedom’s radiant form has drawn new breath-- The breath of life which they so nobly gave Shall swell anew above the lowly grave, And give new life and hope to hearts that beat Like battle-drums that never sound retreat.
Great men often start with humble or discouraging beginnings but rise to prominence.
The parents of Isaac Barrow, the celebrated English divine, conceived so mean an opinion of his temper and parts when he was a boy at the Charterhouse School, that his father used to say, if it pleased God to take from him any of his children, he hoped it might be Isaac, the least promising. Adam Clarke’s father was equally uncomplimentary to his own flesh and blood when he proclaimed his son to be “a grievous dunce.” Poe, at West Point, was a laughing-stock to his schoolmates. Sheridan’s mother presented him to a new tutor as “an incorrigible dunce.” Byron, at Harrow, was in no wise distinguished above his fellows. Napoleon and Wellington in their schooldays were distinguished only for dulness.--_Lippincott’s Magazine._
Losing composure in public preaching causes deep personal embarrassment and discouragement.
I was preaching for a single Sabbath in Brooklyn. In the course of my discourse I lost my head; in fact, I lost all of them. Three were on paper, and one on my shoulders; and they all went at once.
I tried to remember what I had had in my head, but, like the old king’s dream, the matter had gone from me.
I tried to decipher what I had put upon paper, but the writing had faded out.
Everything was gone except the audience, and I could have wished that they were gone, too.
I pounded the desk; I pawed the floor; I clawed the air. I poured whole broadsides of big dictionary into those long-suffering people, but without a single scintilla of sense.
At last I struck a line of thought, and clutched it with the grip of despair, and pulled myself out of the hole in which I had been floundering, and then limped along to a “lame conclusion.”
And then so mortified was I that I would have sunk through the floor, could I have found a vacant nail-hole. As that was out of the question, I would fain have sneaked away without speaking to a human being; but, as bad luck would have it, I had promised to go home to dinner with the Hon. William Richardson, one of the most cultured members of the congregation.
We walked some distance before either spoke a word. Finally, I broke silence--I felt like breaking everything in sight--and I said, “Richardson, was not that the very worst you ever heard?”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Mean?” I replied, catching savagely at the word. “‘Mean’ is no name for it. You must have noticed how under the third head of my discourse I lost my head, and ripped and raved and tore around like a lunatic. What did the people think of it?”
“Think of it? Think of it?” he repeated with sincere surprize. “Why, they thought it was the best part of the whole sermon.”
And then I said to myself, and I said to him, “What is the use of talking sense to the people when they like the other so much better?” Possibly this may serve to account for the fact that these same people subsequently called me to become their pastor.--P. S. HENSON, _Christian Endeavor World_.
Lack of initiative can cause serious harm despite training and routine.
That which is recorded of the telephone girl below is true of great numbers of both sexes in every walk of life. Patients in hospitals soon learn that “trained” nurses will never willingly do anything outside the routine of their directions, which they take mostly from the bulletin-boards. It is said of some physicians that they would prefer that their patients should die regularly rather than get well under an unaccredited practitioner.
A Philadelphia telephone girl refused to make connection with the Fire Department because the man at the other end of the line had not the necessary nickel to put in the slot. At the Earlswood Idiot Asylum, England, we saw several idiots who had been trained to “self-support under direction,” but they had no power of self-reliance; indeed, the superintendent informed us that up to that time there had been quite a number who could automatically do things after much training, but only three in the history of the institution (which was then comparatively young) had been trained to be self-reliant. A reasonable amount of common sense ought to be required of telephone girls or men. This girl’s stupid blunder nearly cost a life.
Misplaced self-confidence can lead to costly mistakes despite apparent expertise.
In a current magazine we find the following:
Some years ago an attorney was called in by a large company and handed a lease.
“Give us your opinion,” said the president. “We have a great deal of this sort of legal business, and it is only fair to say that your opinion may mean much to us and to yourself.”
The lawyer went through the document with some care, but quickly, and on the spot.
“This is one of the best-drawn leases I have ever examined,” he said heartily. “You are wise to handle such matters inside your own organization. I commend your business judgment.”
“Can you suggest any improvements?”
“None whatever,” declared the lawyer.
“Can you discern any flaws?”
“No--emphatically! Mr. Johns,” continued the attorney, turning to the president’s assistant, “I want to congratulate you, as a lawyer, upon your thorough grasp of this most difficult branch. In my opinion this instrument is unassailable. It will hold in the highest court in this State.”
“That is what we want--your honest opinion,” said the president. “You have given it, and we are much obliged to you, and shall be pleased to have a bill for your service. My dear sir, the highest court in the State declared this lease null and void last week, and we have lost a ten-thousand-dollar suit upon it!”
Both the business man who drew the lease and the lawyer who approved it were mistaken. They believed in themselves, but a higher tribunal showed their fallibility.
Winning a cause can sometimes be worse than losing it, revealing true success’s cost.
It often turns out that our apparent successes are really our undoing. Croake James tells this incident:
I was mightily delighted with the whim I was shown on a sign at a village not far from this capital, tho it is too serious a truth to excite one’s risibility. On one side is painted a man stark naked, with this motto: “I am the man who went to law and lost my cause.” On the reverse is a fellow all in tatters, looking most dismally with this motto: “I am the man who went to law and won my cause.” (Text.)--“Curiosities of Law and Lawyers.”
Success depends on many uncontrollable factors beyond effort and talent.
I remember Thackeray saying to me, concerning a certain chapter in one of his books that the critics agreed in accusing of carelessness: “Careless? If I’ve written that chapter once, I’ve written it a dozen times--and each time worse than the last!” a proof that labor did not assist in his case. When an artist fails it is not so much from carelessness--to do his best is not only profitable to him, but a joy. But it is not given to every man--not, indeed, to any--to succeed whenever and however he tries. The best painter that ever lived never entirely succeeded more than four or five times; that is to say, no artist ever painted more than four or five masterpieces, however high his general average may have been, for such success depends on the coincidence, not only of genius and inspiration, but of health and mood and a hundred other mysterious contingencies.--Sir JOHN MILLAIS, _Magazine of Art_.
Failure is a necessary lesson and not a final defeat when the cause is right.
_Success Magazine_ appropriately publishes these lines:
There is no failure. God’s immortal plan Accounts no loss a lesson learned for man. Defeat is oft the discipline we need To save us from the wrong, or teaching heed To errors which would else more dearly cost-- A lesson learned is ne’er a battle lost. Whene’er the cause is right, be not afraid; Defeat is then but victory delayed-- And e’en the greatest vic’tries of the world Are often won when battle-flags are furled.
Some victories destroy the victor’s noblest qualities, making defeat preferable.
Milman has told us how Pope John XXI, bursting into exultant laughter as he entered for the first time that noble chamber which he had built for himself at Viterbo, is crusht by its avenging roof, which that instant comes down on his head. And thus it is true, in a deeper sense, that many a triumph crushes and extinguishes all that is noblest in him who has won it. Doubtless, failure and defeat are bitter, but hardest of all to bear are not our losses but our victories.--Bishop POTTER, _Scribner’s Magazine_.
"Moses May Have Been an Apache! And Other Actual Facts!" is a book similar to Ripley's and contains odd-ball facts:
• Worst ice cream flavor - probably "squirrel.”
• Humans can move 140 mph, but only for six inches.
• World's least successful game show - "Bowling for Skunk Cabbage."
Baltimore Orioles have a long losing streak (16 games?). Turned to psychics, motivation tapes, but all to no avail. They had been the winningest team in last 31 years and won the Series in 1983. After a 13-1 loss, coach Frank Robinson "called his players the worst thing a professional can be labeled - losers." He said, "It looked like we went out there expecting to lose and like we accepted it."
Concerns Christian parents who have children who go wrong, or reject Christ. Factors in failures in families - materialism, "latch key" syndrome, working parents, television.
(Hope for these families will be in the July issue.)
1987-88 saw many American leaders fall, including Christians. All are liable to fall to temptation. Reasons for falling:
1. Neglect of the inner spiritual life.
2. Lack of accountability.
Prophet Nathan held David accountable.
Temptation of a worldly lifestyle. (Luke 9:58)
Saying of George Sweeting's predecessor at Moody Bible College, chancellor William Culbertson: "I want my life to end well."
In the late 1830s machinist Elias Howe hoped he could rise above his poverty by inventing a sewing machine. He developed one but it stitched unevenly. A nightmare became the answer to his dreams. One night he dreamt that a band of savages kidnapped him and threatened to kill him if he did not invent a sewing machine in 24 hours. He failed. But as the savages' spears descended on him, he noticed that they had holes near the tips. He awoke with an idea - put the eye of the needle near the tip instead of in the middle. The idea worked, and Howe patented his new sewing machine in 1846.
Nineteenth-century inventor Gail Borden was obsessed with the idea of condensing food. His first effort, a condensed "meat biscuit," failed miserably. But an ocean voyage gave birth to a better idea. Borden was concerned about the sickly condition of the children on board. Cows on the ship were too seasick to produce healthy milk, and four children died from drinking contaminated milk. Borden was determined to condense milk so that it would be safe and easily transported. After many tries, he devised a vacuum process that removed water from milk. Conditions during the Civil War made the canned milk a success, and Borden made a fortune. His epitaph, inscribed on a tomb the shape of a milk can, was, "I tried and failed; I tried again and again, and succeeded."
Alister McGrath's "The Mystery of the Cross" says that God is not simply powerful in spite of the failure and humiliation of the cross, but God Himself makes His power known to us in and through the failure and humiliation of the cross. I've been reminded that the "foolishness of the cross" can only be reconciled with the wisdom of master's programs in seminaries as Christians realize that we are not handling theological ideas, we are handled by a Person. The better I know God, the more I realize that the deepest and most profound mysteries of the Christian faith are focused in the cross, and the cross only. Life in Christ can be that basic, that simple.
Have you ever made a mistake? Welcome to the human race. It just means you’re alive. The Bible says in James 3:2, “We all stumble in many ways.” We’re all living proof of this verse. But everybody wants to be a success -- nobody wants to be a failure.
Come to think of it, I’ve never met anybody in life who’s said, “My goal in life is to fail.” Everyone wants to succeed. As a society, this puts a lot of stress on us because failure is a part of life. Yet, many people will do anything -- lie, cheat, steal -- in order to succeed. It’s that important. Failure in America is considered the unpardonable sin.
• Failing isn’t fatal.
Because we value success so much, we tend to exaggerate the effects of failure. But failure isn’t the end of the world. You won’t die from it. With failure -- you fail, you pick yourself up and you go on.
One of the best ways to bounce back from failure is to redefine it.
Failure is not failing to reach your dreams. Failure is not having a dream.
Failure is not setting a goal and missing it. Failure is not having a goal.
Failure is not falling down. Failure is refusing to get back up.
If at first you don’t succeed, big deal! It’s usually the second, third or fourth time you actually get it right. You are never a failure until you give up. Remember, everybody fails.
• Failure has benefit.
Did you know that one of God’s primary tools in making you the kind of person he wants you to be is failure? He uses it in your life to mold you, shape you and develop your character. While we rarely learn from our successes (because we typically attribute it to our sheer natural talent!), we can learn from our failures.
We usually think of failure as being a negative experience, but wise people learn from failure and use it to their advantage. They learn from it and grow from it. They use it as a stepping stone.
God often uses failure to educate us. Along the way we figure out what doesn’t work and eventually when we figure out enough things that don’t work, we’re going to figure out what does. Psalm 119:71 says, “My troubles turned out all for the best. They forced me to learn from God’s textbook.” God’s textbook is the Bible and it is often in the midst of failure that we open its pages searching for truth, instruction, comfort, support and encouragement. God seems to be saying, “Sometimes I have to use failure to get you into this book so you’ll start looking and realize that it’s a textbook that I want to teach you.”
When Kay and I first married, our first years together were pretty rough. While we were in love with each other and believed that God had put us together, we were total opposites and simply didn’t get along. We couldn’t communicate. We couldn’t negotiate. Everything was wrong, and we were both miserable. If it hadn’t been for the fact that we were both committed Christians who felt that divorce was not an option, we wouldn’t have continued trying to save the marriage. But we said, “We’re going to make this marriage work if it kills us” -- and it nearly did. For two and a half years we struggled and failed. Finally, we swallowed our pride, found a Christian counselor, and got the help that turned our marriage around and set us on the right path. I look back now and think about some of the lessons I learned in those first years of our marriage. They were lessons that prepared me to pastor Saddleback Church today. I look back and thank God for the failures I experienced because they were learning experiences. God educated me through my failures.
• God’s grace found in failure.
God is not surprised when you fail. He knows it’s going to happen. In fact, he expects it. And even when you do fail, God doesn’t stop loving you. That’s called grace. Psalm 103:14 says, “God knows what we’re made of. He remembers that we are dust.” He knows the frailties of your humanity. He doesn’t expect you to be perfect and more importantly, and he doesn’t stop loving you when you fail.
Often when you’re in the middle of a failure, it’s difficult to see God’s hand in your life. As an adult, Mary’s greatest fear in life was being alone. She didn’t feel that she could function as a whole woman unless she was married, so she designed her life to avoid this failure at all costs. Married to a successful airline executive and enjoying the American dream that included a five-bedroom home and three beautiful daughters, she felt she had it all and could not fail. What could possibly go wrong?
One day her best friend died after a 22-month battle with breast cancer. The next day, her husband packed his things and moved out of their home to be with someone else he said he loved. Mary was shattered. Devastated, she felt she had failed miserably. Even though she was surrounded by wise counsel and Christian friends at church, that time in her life became a blur. Filled with anger and feeling incapable of being a single parent, her failure even took away her desire to live and she contemplated suicide. Eventually, with God’s help and the support and love of her family and church, Mary was able to overcome her failures and begin her life again.
What Mary later realized was that long before any of this began, God had looked ahead and saw the wreck of failure on the road of her life. Knowing what she would face, he fastened her in with the seatbelt of his Word, protected her with a cushioned airbag of her family, daughters and his people, and provided her a window of escape through his love and grace.
Even today, Mary is amazed at how God has taken the most painful event of her life and brought good out of it. She has served as a valued staff minister at Saddleback Church, providing a Christ-centered place of comfort, encouragement and support for women who are struggling with the pains of rejection and failure.
Mary bounced back from failure because she was able to deal with it, receive forgiveness, learn from it, grow from it and let it motivate her. She found God’s grace in her failure.
Bouncing back from failure may not be the easiest thing you’ll ever do in your life, but it’s something that God wants to help you accomplish. It doesn’t matter what failure you’ve gone through or which one you’re going through right now. Big or small, it hasn’t changed God’s purpose for your life. Allow God to teach you, motivate and grow you through your failure. He still has a plan for your life and a place for you in this world.
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[Original illustration at this number was deleted for being obsolete]
Out of 1,000 unmarried young women, 96 will get pregnant in 1989. 40% of
all 14-year-olds will be pregnant at least once before they are 20.
Proverbs gives practical advice on illicit sex, alcohol and drugs (75% of
American homes keep alcohol in supply), peer pressure, and materialism (it is
estimated that teenagers spend close to $90 billion each year, with $30
billion going to videotapes and fast food).
A recent survey of a Midwestern suburban are found a direct correlation exists
between spiritual strength at home and avoidance of drugs and alcohol. By a
nearly 2-to-1 margin, nonusers more frequently described themselves as having
strong religious values. And by a 3-to-1 margin, nonusers reported that their
families often help them with problems.
#1013
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Back in the 1960’s an engineer, who was a Christian, was put in charge of developing a “lifting body.” This was a sort of stubby glider that could coast through the atmosphere at high speeds, such as from outer space. They practiced by dropping them from high-flying aircraft.
When they thought they had it perfected, they put a pilot in one. As he dropped from the mother plane, the lifting body spun out of control. If you ever watched the opening to the TV show, The $6 Million Man, you saw real film of the crash of the lifting body. The pilot was killed, the project was abandoned, and the engineer was left with a crushing feeling of failure.
Why did God let it happen?
The life of Abraham Lincoln is a good example of persistence.
In 1831 he failed in business.
In 1832 he was defeated for the legislature.
In 1833 he again failed in business.
In 1834 he was elected to the legislature.
In 1835 his sweetheart died.
In 1836 he had a nervous breakdown.
In 1838 he was defeated for speaker of the legislature.
In 1840 he was defeated for elector.
In 1843 he was defeated for Congress.
In 1846 he was elected to Congress.
In 1848 he ran for re-election to Congress, but was defeated.
In 1855 he was defeated for the Senate.
In 1856 he was defeated for Vice-President.
In 1858 he was defeated for the Senate.
In 1860 he was ELECTED PRESIDENT. (Tan 6141)
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Version from "Chicken Soup of the Day," February 15, 1999:
ABRAHAM LINCOLN DIDN'T QUIT
Probably the greatest example of persistence is Abraham Lincoln. If you want to learn about somebody who didn't quit, look no further. Born into poverty, Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown. He could have quit many times - but he didn't and because he didn't quit, he became one of the greatest presidents in the history of our country.
Lincoln was a champion and he never gave up. Here is a sketch of Lincoln's road to the White House:
1816 His family was forced out of their home. He had to work to support them.
1818 His mother died.
1831 Failed in business.
1832 Ran for state legislature - lost.
l832 Also lost his job - wanted to go to law school but couldn't get in.
1833 Borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt. He spent the next 17 years of his life paying off this debt.
1834 Ran for state legislature again - won.
1835 Was engaged to be married, sweetheart died and his heart was broken.
1836 Had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.
1838 Sought to become speaker of the state legislature - defeated.
1840 Sought to become elector - defeated.
1843 Ran for Congress - lost.
1846 Ran for Congress again - this time he won - went to Washington and did a good job.
1848 Ran for re-election to Congress - lost.
1849 Sought the job of land officer in his home state - rejected.
1854 Ran for Senate of the United States - lost.
1856 Sought the Vice-Presidential nomination at his party's national convention - gets less than 100 votes.
1858 Ran for U.S. Senate again - again he lost.
1860 Elected president of the United States.
______________________________________
Another version:
Abraham Lincoln Didn't Quit
Probably the greatest example of persistence is Abraham Lincoln. If you want to learn about somebody who didn't quit, look no further.
Born into poverty, Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown.
He could have quit many times - but he didn't and because he didn't quit, he became one of the greatest presidents in the history of our country.
Lincoln was a champion and he never gave up. Here is a sketch of Lincoln's road to the White House:
1816 His family was forced out of their home. He had to work to support them.
1818 His mother died.
1831 Failed in business.
1832 Ran for state legislature - lost.
l832 Also lost his job - wanted to go to law school but couldn't get in.
1833 Borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt. He spent the next 17 years of
his life paying off this debt.
1834 Ran for state legislature again - won.
1835 Was engaged to be married, sweetheart died and his heart was broken.
1836 Had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.
1838 Sought to become speaker of the state legislature - defeated.
1840 Sought to become elector - defeated.
1843 Ran for Congress - lost.
1846 Ran for Congress again - this time he won - went to Washington and did a good job.
1848 Ran for re-election to Congress - lost.
1849 Sought the job of land officer in his home state - rejected.
1854 Ran for Senate of the United States - lost.
1856 Sought the Vice-Presidential nomination at his party's national convention - got less than 100 votes.
1858 Ran for U.S. Senate again - again he lost.
1860 Elected president of the United States.
================
All of these lists contain inaccuracies or distortions, according to Snopes.com. See http://www.snopes.com/glurge/lincoln.asp for an interesting discussion of the details.
Articles on the meaning of success and failure for Christians. Despite culture's insistence on winning and being #1, being creatures we fail. Last article analyzes the claims of the health/wealth theology from the Bible.
Failure is hard for us to accept.
One of the most prestigious universities in America is Harvard. Its graduates have a reputation for becoming world leaders. A few years back the class Senator Ted Kennedy was in, had a reunion. Many of the classmates wrote personal testimonials of how their lives had turned out.
One testimonial stood out from the others. This man said that he had succeeded in the eyes of the world. He had made a lot of money and wielded power in his industry. Yet he thought of himself as a failure. His marriage had broken up. He was estranged from his children, who didn't talk to him. Several of his kids had drug and money problems. This man had no friends.
His was a sobering story, but one that all of us can relate to to some extent.
How Christians should handle failure.
1. Failure is hard to accept.
a. Society and the church are success-oriented.
2. How to handle failure.
a. Expect failure.
b. Analyze your failure.
c. Measure success by God's standards.
d. Learn from failure.
e. Keep faith in God.
3. Don't give up, in spite of failure.
a. God gives us permission to succeed.
Memory is a wonderful thing. Scientists say that the human mind can store as many as 600 memories per second for a lifetime of 75 years without the slightest strain. Experts advise, "Be selective about what's worth remembering!"
Things Christians should remember: the Lord and his blessings, Christ's death on the cross for our sins, the eternal truths of God's Word.
1. We must forget our sins.
2. We must forget ourselves.
3. We must forget our shortcomings.
Fortune Magazine analyzed several hundred successful men. Fortune found these men had failed an average of seven times each before succeeding. Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he finally succeeded. Babe Ruth may have become famous for seeting a home run record, but he also held the record for strike-outs. Winston Churchill did not become Prime Minister of England until he was 66, after a lifetime of defeats and setbacks.
As Thomas Edison said, when an aide urged him to quit after hundreds of failures on a particular project, "Why quit now? We know at least a hundred things that won't work!"
4. We must forget our successes.
A deacon in a small, midwestern church said, "Change is sin, and we
sin as little as possible around here."
5. We must forget our sorrows.
Faith in the promises of God.
1. Disappointed Faith.
a. The healing that never comes. (Excellent examples given throughout.)
b. The equal yoke that breaks.
2. Hard Questions and Easy Answers.
a. The promises don't fail; people do.
b. The promises are "spiritual", not literal.
'Those who have spiritual eyes don't spiritualize and thereby tell
spiritual lies.'
c. The "promises" are general statements of fact or they are addressed to
others; they are not personal guarantees to us.
3. Faith in Formulas.
True faith is trusting God no matter what happens.
Barnabas was a quiet man but he made a great impact by encouraging Paul. After Mark abandoned Paul, Barnabas stood by Mark and he later became a great asset to Paul again. Encouragement can even turn failure around.
Danger of giving in to the whims of others, described by Henry Swope:
"I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is: Try to please everybody."
#1520
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Examples of grossly wrong assessments:
"Far too noisy, my dear Mozart. Far too many notes."
The Emperor Ferdinand after the first performance of The Marriage of Figaro.
"If Beethoven's Seventh Symphony is not by some means abridged, it will soon
fall into disuse."
Philip Hale, Boston music critic, 1837
"Rembrandt is not to be compared in the painting of character with our
extraordinarily gifted English artist Mr. Rippingille."
John Hunt (1775-1848)
"Flight by machines heavier than air is unpractical and insignificant ... utterly impossible."
Simon Newcomb (1835-1909)
"We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on their way out."
Decca Recording Company when turning down the Beatles in 1962.
"You will never amount to very much."
A Munich schoolmaster to Albert Einstein, aged 10.
Story of Bill Borden, a young man from a wealthy family who left everything to go into missions to the Moslems in China, only to die in Egypt of cerebral meningitis. He was 25 and by today's values worth $40 million. But in 1912 he gave his fortune away. Five months later in Cairo he died. "What a waste," people said.
Borden's parents raised him in a mansion on Chicago's "Gold Coast" within walking distance of Moody Church. His father, an attorney, was active in real estate after the Chicago fire. It was from this, not milk, that the family fortune grew. Borden went to Yale, was president of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society his senior year, was voted third out of 800 for being the hardest worker, fourth for the most energetic, ninth as the most to be admired, and seventh as the one who had done the most for Yale.
Bill's mother was devout and taught him the Bible. Before entering college, at age 17, his parents sent him on a 10-month global tour. He left San Francisco in September 1904, and when they reached London they went to hear Bill's preacher from Chicago preaching at a series of meetings. He wrote back to his mother, "His sermon was meant to straighten things out. I know that my own ideas were somewhat hazy, and I wasn't at all sure about it. But I am now. In another meeting Torrey gave an invitation to those who had never publicly indicated that they had surrendered all to Christ. Bill stood up with several others and later wrote home, "We sang the chorus: 'I surrender all, I surrender all. All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all." Torrey gave five points for daily living, with the last being "Go to work." Borden resolved to do so.
During his freshman year at Yale, at the Student Volunteer Movement convention, he heard Samuel Zwemer describe the sweep of Moslem influence throughout the Near and Far East. He said those 70 million people were not lost because they had proved too fanatical or because they refused to listen, but because "none of us has ever had the courage to go to those lands and win them to Jesus Christ."
Back in New Haven, Conn., he founded and privately financed a mission for down-and-out men. One man later said he talked to everyone. At Bible conferences he volunteered to wait on tables. He had a devoted but simple prayer life, and was tempted to buy a car but decided it was an unjustifiable luxury.
Upon graduation he applied to the China Inland Mission for service to Moslems in China. But they decided he needed more Bible training and recommended he go to Princeton Seminary. Unknown to anyone - even his mother - he cut his business ties to give his life totally to Christ. One-fourth of his inheritance was given for use in Chicago, another fourth for other parts of America, one third for work in China, and the remainder for other countries. The New York Bible Society and Moody each got $100,000, equivalent to $4 mil today. $100,000 of the quarter million he gave to China Inland Mission he asked to be invested for retired missionaries.
Bill had no doubts. But his mother, she admitted later, wondered on the eve of his departure for Egypt if he had done the right thing in giving up everything he owned: "In the quiet of my room that night, worn and weary and sad, I fell asleep asking myself again and again, "Is it, after all, worthwhile?' And in the morning, as I awoke to consciousness, a still small voice was speaking in my heart, answering the question with these words: 'God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son....'"
Before he departed they prayed for God's will to be done. It turned out not to be mission to the Moslems. Borden contracted cerebral meningitis in Cairo and died. The news shocked the world. Accounts of his life and death were written in many languages. A version for Chinese Moslems reached the very people he himself had longed to see.
An editorial in a Richmond, Va., paper said, "His investment has borne rich returns already and will continue to yield its peculiar fruit. There are thousands of talented and favored young men who will, in the light of Borden's conception of investment values, come to a new view of Christian service."
Another editor wrote, "It was not the million dollars that came to this young American which made his life a victory and his death a world-wide call to young men and women to learn the secret of that victory. It was in things that every man can share that William Borden found the way to the life which is Christ and the death which is gain. And China and the Moslem world shall yet share that gain, as his burning torch is used to kindle in other lives the first of a like passion for Jesus Christ."
Among Bill's papers was a poem his mother had given him on his 17th birthday. It summed up what he did and what he was:
Just as I am, young, strong and free,
To be the best that I can be
For truth and righteousness and Thee -
Lord of my life, I come.
Waste? Was it?
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Another version from PreachingNow newsletter, 9/29/09:
Omar C. Garcia, Minister of Missions and Evangelism, Kingsland Baptist Church, Katy, Texas, shares the following: “In 1904, William Borden , the heir of the famous Borden dairy estate, graduated from high school in Chicago. As a graduation gift, his parents sent him on a cruise around the world. While on this cruise, God began to open William’s eyes and heart to the masses of unsaved people around the world. William wrote to his mother about his desire to be a missionary. In one of his early letters he wrote, ‘I think God is calling me to be a missionary.’ In his final letter he wrote, ‘I know God is calling me to be a missionary.’ One friend expressed amazement that William was throwing his life away by choosing to become a missionary.
“When he returned home, William enrolled in Yale University, where he was instrumental in starting campus prayer and Bible study groups and evangelism initiatives. He also worked with the least of these on the streets of New Haven and founded Yale Hope Mission. Henry Wright, a professor at Yale, said, ‘It is my firm conviction that the Yale Hope Mission has done more to convince all classes of men at Yale of the power and practicability of Christianity to regenerate individuals and communities than any other force in the University.’ While in school, William renounced his fortune in favor of missions and wrote two words in the flyleaf of his Bible -- ‘No Reserves.’ William wanted to live by faith and trust God for everything in his life.
“William attended a Student Volunteer Movement conference in Nashville, where he learned about the great number of Muslims in China. He felt God wanted him to go to China, where he hoped to work with Muslims. When he graduated from Yale, he had many lucrative job offers, including the opportunity to take over the multi-million dollar family business. However, he was determined to fulfill God’s call to serve as a missionary. Once again, he opened his Bible to the flyleaf and wrote two more words -- ‘No Retreats.’
“William set sail for China on Dec. 17, 1912. He stopped in Egypt to study Arabic so he would be better equipped to work with Muslims. While in Egypt, William contracted spinal meningitis and died on April 9, 1913, at the age of 25. Years of training, a promising future, and William never made it to China. Charlie Campbell, one of William’s college friends, received his Bible after his death. When he opened it, he found what William had written in the flyleaf. In addition to the words ‘No Reserves’ and ‘No Retreats’ that William had jotted down during his college days, he found two more words that William had written before he died -- ‘No Regrets.’
“Although William Borden never made it to the mission field in China, he touched hundreds of students at Yale University and Princeton Divinity School who became missionaries. Because the news of his death was published all over the world, many people wrote letters to his family expressing how their lives had been influenced by William’s story of faith and commitment to the cause of Christ. His story continues to inspire selfless service for the cause of Christ.” As believers may we truthfully confess with William Borden of Yale, ‘No Reserves, No Retreats, and No Regrets.’”
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from Franklin Kirksey, “Grandfather’s Gavel”; Omar C. Garcia, “William Borden, Go Beyond: Live Adventurously for God,” Copyright © 2001–2008 BibleTeachingNotes.com
It was a fog-shrouded morning, July 4, 1952, when a young woman named
Florence Chadwick waded into the water off Catalina Island. She intended to
swim the channel from the island to the California coast. Long-distance
swimming was not new to her; she had been the first woman to swim the English
Channel in both directions.
The water was numbing cold that day. The fog was so thick she could hardly
see the boats in her party. Several times sharks had to be driven away with
rifle fire. She swam more than 15 hours before she asked to be taken out of
the water. Her trainer tried to encourage her to swim on since they were so
close to land, but when Florence looked, all she saw was fog. So she
quit... only one-half mile from her goal.
Later she said, "I'm not excusing myself, but if I could have seen the land I
might have made it." It wasn't the cold or fear or exhaustion that caused
Florence Chadwick to fail. It was the fog.
Many times we too fail, not because we're afraid or because of the peer
pressure or because of anything other than the fact that we lose sight of the
goal. Maybe that's why Paul said, "I press toward the mark for the prize of
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Two months after her failure, Florence Chadwick walked off the same beach into
the same channel and swam the distance, setting a new speed record, because
she could see the land. #1877
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Fred Astaire was without dispute one of the top singers, dancers, and actors of all time. In Top Hat, Swing Time, Holiday Inn, and other famous movies, he danced and crooned his way into people's hearts worldwide.
But in 1932, when Astaire was starting out, a Hollywood talent judge wrote on his screen test: "Can't act. Can't sing. Can dance a little."
As Christians, we may fail badly. What kind of a Christian would do that? We think. How can I ever serve Christ again?
But we develop in the Christian life when we leave those failures behind and daily use our God-given gifts for him. In time, those failures will be forgotten footnotes.
G. Campbell Morgan was one of 150 young men who sought entrance to the Wesleyan ministry in 1888. He passed the doctrinal examinations, but then faced the trial sermon. In a cavernous auditorium that could seat more than 1,000 sat three ministers and 75 others who came to listen.
When Morgan stepped into the pulpit, the vast room and the searching, critical eyes caught him up short. Two weeks later Morgan’s name appeared among the 105 rejected for the ministry that year.
Jill Morgan, his daughter-in-law, wrote in her book, “A Man of the Word”: “He wired to his father the one word, ‘Rejected,’ and sat down to write in his diary: ‘Very dark everything seems. Still, He knoweth best.’ Quickly came the reply: ‘Rejected on earth. Accepted in heaven. Dad.’”
Rejection is rarely permanent, as Morgan went on to prove. Even in this life, circumstances change, and ultimately, there is no rejection of those accepted by Christ.
Babe Ruth had hit 714 home runs during his baseball career and was playing one of his last major league games. The aging star was playing for the Boston Braves against the Cincinnati Reds. But he was no longer as agile as he had once been. He fumbled the ball and threw badly, and in one inning alone, his errors were responsible for five Cincinnati runs.
As the Babe walked off the field after the third out, booing and catcalls cascaded from the stands. Just then a young boy jumped over the railing onto the playing field. With tears streaking his cheeks, he threw his arms around the legs of his hero.
Ruth didn't hesitate. He picked up the boy, hugged him, and set him down on his feet with a playful pat on the head. Suddenly the booing stopped. In fact, a hush fell over the entire park. In those brief moments, the crowd saw a different kind of hero; a man who in spite of a dismal day on the field could still care about a little boy.
He was no longer being judged by his accomplishments - neither the past successes nor the present failures - but by a completely different standard. Suddenly it was not his works that mattered, but a relationship.
========================
Another version from Wit & Wisdom, Dec. 1, 2004:
A story of the great Babe Ruth, related by Norman Vincent Peale, tells of kindness given when so badly needed several decades ago. At Babe's career's peak, Peale recalls, Babe although large in stature, was “graceful, even rhythmic, in his motions. When he batted, it was like a symphony of beauty - the crack of the bat on the ball, the run, the tag on base. He hit seven hundred fourteen home runs, and the multitudes loved him.
But Babe Ruth eventually became older, and in his decline, the Yankees traded him to the Boston Braves. In Cincinnati, at one of the Babe's final games, Dr. Peale sat with a large crowd watching the Braves play the Reds. This day, Babe wasn't doing well. Neither was his rhythm intact.
After twice fumbling the ball and several times throwing balls off target, he enabled the Cincinnati Reds to make five runs. At game's end, with head down - and to the booing of fans “who once cheered him riotously” - Babe walked toward the dugout.
By then, over the railing and across the field, came running a small boy, who threw his arms around his hero's knees. Bending down, Babe picked up the boy and after setting him down and tousling his head, walked with him, hand-in-hand off the field. At this a hushed silence fell over the crowd, those present awed by the galvanizing moment. Thus, a small child's kind thoughtfulness ultimately overruled a crowd's cruel thoughtlessness. The child's actions enabled Babe - with head held high and heart unfettered - to exit the playing field with unmitigated dignity.
________
Source: Laughter for a Saturday
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A string of defeats does not have to make a person a failure:
When he was seven years old, his family was forced out of their home on a legal technicality, and he had to work to help support them.
At age nine, his mother died.
At 22, he lost his job as a store clerk. He wanted to go to law school, but his education wasn't good enough.
At 23, he went into debt to become a partner in a small store.
At 26, his business partner died, leaving him a huge debt that took years to repay.
At 28, after courting a girl for four years, he asked her to marry him. She said no.
At 37, on his third try, he was elected to Congress, but two years later, he failed to be re-elected.
At 41, his four-year-old son died.
At 45, he ran for the Senate and lost.
At 47, he failed as the vice-presidential candidate.
At 49, he ran for the Senate again, and lost.
At 51, he was elected president of the United States. His name was Abraham Lincoln, a man many consider the greatest leader the country ever had.
Some people get all the breaks.
[see #1366 for Tan's version]
The January 13, 1992 issue of Fortune magazine featured the "Biggest Business Goofs of 1991."
In an act of corporate cooperation, AT&T reached an agreement with the power company in New York City, Con Ed. The contract stated that whenever power demands exceeded the utility's grid, AT&T would lessen their demands on the electric utility by throwing a switch, unplugging some of its facilities, and drawing power from internal generators at its 33 Thomas Street station in lower Manhattan.
On September 17, AT&T acted in accordance with their agreement. But when AT&T's own generators kicked in, the power surge kicked out some of their vital rectifiers, which handled 4.5 million domestic calls, 470,000 international calls, 1,174 flights across the nation carrying 85,000 passengers, and the total communications systems linking air traffic controllers at La Guardia, Kennedy, and Newark airports.
The alarm bells at the 33 Thomas Street station rang unheeded for 6 hours. The AT&T personnel in charge of the rectifiers were away attending a one-day seminar on how to handle emergencies.
Historians tell us that there was a naval battle in the sixteenth century between the forces of Venice and Genoa. The Genoese suffered a crushing defeat. But after the damage to their ships had been repaired, the commander asked his forces to return to fight the fleets of Venice one more time. His compatriots objected, wondering how they could be asked to return to fight an enemy who had beaten them so badly.
The commander replied, "It was rendered famous by our defeat, let us render it
immortal by our victory."
God wants us to return to the place of our defeat. He wants to win great victories in the very area of our lives that has been ravaged by Satan.
#2551
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