Failure

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#553 Failure to Opportunity

Good Day Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Some of the most famous, talented, and successful individuals in the world have had a difficult time in school, some failing to get into advanced schools, some finishing near or at the bottom of their class, some flunking courses that would later be part of their careers, and more than a few who were written off by their teachers as never going to succeed in life.  We may have encountered some these situations not only in school but also in life, causing us to consider ourselves as failures.  Although we may have failed at what we were doing, grasping a new opportunity may be only a matter of using what God has already given us.  He has given every Christian at least one special gift; yet, sometimes we do not utilize the gift given, either not knowing our gift or not realizing the power God has given us through that gift.  Sometimes it is that very God-given gift, when fully utilized that can open a door for us that will turn our failure into one of opportunity.

If you are not fully utilizing your God-given gift(s) today, ask God to reveal not only the gift(s) to you but also how He would have you use it to further His kingdom here on earth!

“But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after than.”  (I Corinthians 7:7)

May God Richly Bless You Today

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#552 Failure to Faithfulness

Good Day Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

A failure of any kind can cause us to “give up” and not attempt to finish something we were attempting to achieve.  This can also cause us to feel we cannot do anything else or cannot do anything better than what we have just finished in failure.  Another quotation by Thomas Edison emphasizes the result of these feelings:  “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”[1]   What we consider failure in our lives may have been our refusal to continue striving toward our goal of achieving something in particular.  Examples may be our witness to see someone accept Christ as Savior and that person continue to refuse salvation or our attempt to begin a ministry or mission that does not “get off the ground.”  We can give up and stop our witness or ministry, or we can be faithful to the Lord by calling upon Him for help and continuing to witness and serve Him.  God calls us to be faithful and trust Him, and when we do so we can leave the results to Him.

Today, be faithful in your witness and service for the Lord, placing the results in His hand!

“Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”  (Psalm 124:8)

May God Richly Bless You Today                                                                       

 

[1]This is presented as a statement of 1877, as quoted in From Telegraph to Light Bulb with Thomas Edison (2007) by Deborah Hedstrom, p. 22

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#551 Failure to Obedience

Good Day Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Spiritual failure, which we thought about yesterday, can include many different aspects, such as failure morally, failure witnessing, and other failures against God.  One spiritual failure that can ruin our fellowship with the Lord is the failure to obey His commands.  Throughout Scripture we are given commands or instructions as to how to live the Christian walk and lives pleasing to the Lord.  Yet, many of us Christians attend church on Sunday morning, feeling that is adequate worship and training for our Christian walk; we read and study God’s Word, feeling that is adequate without applying the Word to our lives; and we pray for missions and the lost, feeling that is adequate without obeying Christ’s command to go and tell others about Christ.  We as Christians are expected to obey what God has commanded in His Word, including instructions that we may not be comfortable following, and the Holy Spirit is waiting to guide us from failure to obedience when we open our hearts to be receptive to what God expects of us.

As you read and study God’s Word, allow the Holy Spirit to speak to and guide you as you apply His commands to your Christian walk!

“We have received grace and apostleship through Him to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations, on behalf of His name, including yourselves who are also Jesus Christ’s by calling.”  (Romans 1:5-6 – NASB)

May God Richly Bless You Today

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#550 Failure to Great Achievement

 Good Day Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 Thomas Edison was quoted as having said, “I speak without exaggeration when I say that I have constructed 3,000 different theories in connection with the electric light, each one of them reasonable and apparently likely to be true.  Yet only in two cases did my experiments prove the truth of my theory.”[1]  Is Thomas Edison considered a failure?  Babe Ruth struck out more times than he got a hit, but he is considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time.  Is Babe Ruth considered a failure?  There are a multitude of other illustrations that can be given of people who achieved greatness who failed miserably before their achievements.  We as Christians often fail our Lord, but we can also ask, “Does God consider us a failure?”  If our failure is due to sin in our lives, we need to go boldly before God’s throne, asking Him to forgive us, never forgetting that the price for our sin has already been paid by Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.  He can turn our spiritual failures into great spiritual achievements for His glory and honor.  

 Have you failed or are you failing in your spiritual life?  When you turn back to Him, He will turn your spiritual failures into great spiritual achievements!

 “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.”  (Lamentations 3:40)

 May God Richly Bless You Today

 

[1]On his years of research in developing the electric light bulb, as quoted in “Talks with Edison” by George Parsons Lathrop in Harpers magazine, Vol. 80 (February 1890), p. 425

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#549 Failure to Success

Good Day Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Many of us have experienced failure in our lives.  A number of years ago, a Christian man in a good professional position became disenchanted and resigned from his job.  As he was looking for another position in the same profession, an opportunity came for him in a totally different profession.  Seizing the opportunity, the man went through training but had a difficult time grasping the concept of or desire for the new profession, he becoming more and more frustrated.  Finally realizing he was not going to make it, he quit even before having begun the actual work.  Being discouraged at his first major failure, he had a difficult time for a number of months, but then he received a call that gave him an opportunity to go back into his previous profession, only this time in a considerably better situation.  Additionally, he soon realized that the original occupation to which he was returning was considerable more “professional” than the one he had attempted.  His failure actually opened the door for God to give him a blessing and a successful future.  God can turn failure into success when we place our trust in Him.

If you are in the aftermath of a failed employment situation, put the experience behind you and place your trust in God, that He will turn your “failure” to “success.”

“…for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”  (Ecclesiastes 3:17b)

May God Richly Bless You Today