Bouncing back from failure #2

 I came across a list of things that I’m supposed to do on a weekly basis. Let me share just a few with you?

Experts say you should drink eight glasses of water a day – I don’t always do that.
Dentists say you should brush your teeth after every meal and floss every day. I don’t always do that.
I’ve been told I should never allow the gas tank in my car to get below half full.
Doctors say the average adult should get no less than 8 hours of sleep per night – I think I’ve averaged about 6 ½.
You’re always supposed to do the speed limit. – I’m not even going to go there!

All of us fail occasionally – don’t we? It is not our desire or intent but, “hey it happens.” Nobody wants to be known as a failure in life, but the truth is: failure is universal! Everybody experiences failure, and everybody experiences the fear of failure. In fact, just the fear of failure paralyzes millions of people.
 
How then can we overcome the fear of failure so that it does not paralyze us to move forward?

1. DISCOVER THAT EVERYONE FAILS – You are not alone!!
A. The starting point to overcoming the fear of failure is to realize, that it is a universal experience. Everybody fails. James is very specific about this. He says,
“We all stumble in many ways.” (James 3:2)
Nobody is perfect. We all blow it. You can’t get away from that principle in Scripture. Great men of the Bible failed.
Abraham failed to believe that God would give him a son so he slept with someone who wasn’t his wife, but God didn’t give up on him.
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, survived the flood but ended up getting drunk.
Moses killed a guy
David committed adultery with Bethsheba, and then murdered her husband to hide his failing. Yet, David became known as a man “after God’s heart.”
Folks, the list could go on and on. Everyone fails!

2. DETERMINE THAT FAILURE IS NOT FINAL.
A. Look at (Proverbs 24:16), “For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.”
1. Even good guys stumble! History is filled with the biographies of failures who got up and kept going.
George Washington lost 2/3 of all the battles he fought during the American Revolution, but eventually won the war and became the first President of the United States.
Napoleon graduated 42nd in a class of 43 students. Brilliant! Then he went out and conquered Europe. Failure doesn’t have to be final.
Billy Graham said that when he was asked to preach his first sermon. He had 4 sermons prepared and he was so nervous he preached all four of them in under 10 minutes. Can you imagine if Billy Graham had said, “You know, I’m just not cut out for this. I don’t want to endure that kind of embarrassment again”? The world would have missed one of the greatest preachers of all time.

Someone said:
“One of the reasons why mature people stop growing and learning is that they become less and less willing to risk failure.”

3. DISCERN THE BENEFITS OF FAILURE

A. Paul said of the Romans in Romans 8: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him…according to His purpose.”
1. “Does that include failure?” It sure does. God can work even in our failures!
2. One of the most well-known characters of the New Testament is a man named Simon. He knew all about failure. He failed to walk on water. He failed when he refused to let Jesus wash his feet. He failed when he took out his sword and cut off the ear of a servant of the High Priest. He failed to stand up for Jesus during the trial before Herod. He failed to stand with Jesus at the foot of the cross. When you read through the Gospels, it seems like Simon messes up almost everything he tries.

But Jesus gave Simon the name, “Peter” which means “rock.” He offered forgiveness for all of Simon’s failings, and Peter preached one of the greatest sermons in the history of Christianity where 3,000 people became followers of Jesus Christ.

Just think of all the benefits to failure. For one thing,
1. It educates us.
Thomas Edison said he had 10,000 failures before he learned how to work the light bulb. He said he didn’t call it a failure; he called it an education.
“I know 10,000 things that don’t work.” There are some things in life that are only learned through failure.
Failure isn’t special – everybody does it. But to learn from failure is special. And smart people learn from their failures.

 
2. Failure also develops our skills.
How did you learn to ride a bike? You fell down and got back up. You learned to roller skate/skiing, the same way. Failure is a stepping-stone to success if you try new approaches.

If we’re not making mistakes once in a while, we’re not trying anything new.
How many stories have you heard about people who failed in one area and that motivated them to try something else? Maybe you know the name of Ray Kroc who failed in real estate and decided to start a thing called “McDonalds.” Or how about Colonel Sanders who failed at everything in his life until he was about 70, and then he started doing what he always wanted to do in the first place which was cooking chicken.
 
3. It also makes us less judgmental.
Most of the, people I know who fail tend to be more sympathetic. Without failure, it’s easy to criticize and condemn those who fail.
 
Bounce back from failure and serve the Lord with gladness