Welcome to Day 26 of our 40-day countdown to Easter 2019! Failure is not a Person. Easter is getting closer and we know it is ultimately a story of victory. But it didn't start that way. It started with what looked like the worst possible defeat to the Christian church - the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Many times we are faced with situations that feel awful. Events in life that hurt, often seem like the worst defeat we could experience. If that is or was you, we want to encourage you with this simple and straight forward quote by Zig Zigler ~
Failure is an event, it is not a person.
In other words, if you've experienced failure, it doesn't mean you are a failure. That's right, you are not a failure. It only means you experienced a failing event. You may not understand why, but you can learn from it. And of course, if you know exactly why it happened, admit that and grow from it.
God is doing great things all around us and He wants you to be part of what He's doing. Sometimes to prepare us for participation, He has to use difficulties and disappointments to accomplish some of His amazing work. Romans 8:28 says,
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
Remember God's plans are not our plans. You may not be able to see exactly what God is doing, but the good news is that you can rest in knowing that God is in control.
In the words of the great Protestant Christian missionary, Hudson Taylor, "If we want to see might wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and disappointment, let us answer God's standing challenge, 'Call unto me, and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not!' (Jeremiah 33:3)
LET'S CALL TO HIM...
Father, in the name of Jesus, we receive Your comforting word that when we mess up, we are not failures. We realize that sometimes, we must go through failures in order to reach success. Now that I understand that; now that I accept that, I open my heart and mind to the experiences that you engineer to make me stronger. It is because I know that all things are working together for my good, that when I don't understand why, I still hold on. Yes sir, I am yet holding on to Your unchanging hand. And I believe that when things look dark and hopeless, the best is yet to come because You have promised to show me great and mighty things that I did not know about! In Jesus' name, AMEN!
~Inspiring hope and seasoning faith, Pastor Sean