Failure is a Good Sign!

 

I’m sure almost all of us have the same response toward the concept of failure – it is something we avoid and reject with tenacity. The reason we have such a response towards the word or concept is because of how most if not all of us were raised to think of failure. If we failed at something, we immediately adopt a negative mentality of being less than. Some of us go as far as altering the definition of who we are (our identity) to be predicated on winning or failing.

Webster defines failure as:

1. Omission of performance (failure to pay rent, for example)

2.  Inability to perform a normal function (heart or kidney failure)

3. Abrupt cessation of normal functioning (power failure)

4. A falling short (exam failure)

5. One who has failed

As you can see, the definitions all present failure as a deficiency and not measuring up.  That’s the general outlook toward failing.

However, as a Christian psychologist, I’m learning to have a different mindset towards failure.

In 2 Corinthians 12, Apostle Paul was experiencing failure in a certain area of his life. So he did what we all would normally do. Pray more, cry out more, and seek God's face more. But what was God’s response? “My Grace is sufficient for you because my power is perfected in weakness” (verse 9).

I don’t think that’s the answer Paul wanted, and I don’t think that’s the answer we want either. We want divine intervention to show up and empower us to pass. We want that negative failure to vanish away. God however had a different view on failure. It wasn’t this negative thing to avoid and run from. Why?

1.    Failure to achieve something or measure up to something has nothing with who we are. It does not mean we are deficient, bad, or defective. It doesn't mean we are weak or less than. It simply means we didn’t measure up. Our value in the sight of God isn't less. Whatever weakness Apostle Paul had that made him not measure up positioned him to have extra grace to compensate for it.

2.    To us, failure means God should rush in and empower us to avoid it. To God, failure from the 2 Cor 12 context is something we have to go through until we learn to appropriate His grace to win. He has given us Grace to accomplish anything, yet the practical and personable way to do this has to be learned by spending time with Him in the word. He doesn't give us shortcuts; instead, He actually takes us through routes of failure until we discover how to succeed – meaning failure isn’t a negative thing, but a learning experience.

This outlook is exactly what Thomas Edison had towards failure. Hence he failed 9,999 times and he didn’t see it as a negative but as an opportunity to discover a new way. It wasn’t a demerit that was being counted against his life’s GPA score. His famous quote is “I have not failed. I have found 10,000 ways that won't work”.

In conclusion, as Christians who are made righteous and justified by faith, not works, we need to extend our faith to the next level regarding failure. It does not diminish our heritage or estate in God. 2 Cor 12 says to make our boast in our weakness……to glory in our weakness. That which caused you to fail, rather than be ashamed of it, and try to hide, suppress, and repress it, scripture is saying you shouldn’t shy away from it, but remove the shame and negativity from it, and bask in the grace of God in the middle of your weakness. And anyone who attempts to make you less than in their judgment and condemnation, you simply ignore their toxic use of scripture. And like Thomas Edison, you stay positive-minded as you learn to appropriate the Grace of God in you to live in Truth before God.

This message will be very hard for some to digest because it goes against their moralistic value system. Their sense of worth is based on their track record and achievement, and their ministry is based on making sure someone who doesn’t measure up, or who fails and isn’t sweating it, should know that they are less than for that.