Redefining Failure
To Fail and to Sin are Not the Same Thing - Sin is Intentional - Failing is Not
Every Bible Hero Failed - But Rose Up
“And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.” Hebrews 11:32-34
No one is a hero because they never failed.
They are heroes because after failure they got up.
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” Hebrews 12:1
Failing is a weight, not a sin.
Sins sideline you. Repentance gets you back in the race.
Weight causes you to stumble on the track. When you fall, get back up and keep on running.
Your failings and mistakes are redeemable.
Your talent does not determine your success. There are many talented failures.
Your connections do not determine your future.
Your spirit determines your future. Be relentless.
Defining Failure
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. 24 Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down (it is redeemable); for the Lord upholds him with His hand.” Psalms 37:23, 24
It is possible to fall following the Lord’s guidance.
When you fall, you are not utterly (permanently) cast down.
If you fall – get up.
“For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall (forever without remedy) by calamity.” Proverbs 24:16
It is possible to be just and fall.
After you fall – get up.
“Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.” Micah 7:8
Much of failure has to do with ignorance. You did not know enough or understand. Be smarter next time.
It is not if I fall, but when. Failing is inevitable.
God will not let you off but will not let you go.
“We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down (have failed), but not destroyed…” 2 Corinthians 4:8, 9
Is it a sin to be troubled? Perplexed? Persecuted? Knocked down (fail)?
Failure is not a sin. Sin has to be repented of and forsaken.
Failing is like a child getting up after falling while learning to walk.
The Definition of Failure.
Failure is trying to do something honorable and not succeeding. Failure is a stumble. Get up and try again.
Sin can set you back for long periods of time. Failure is momentary.
Failure can help to reorient you – to see clearer.
Failure Is A Reorientation For The Future.
God does not speak to your circumstances, your present, but to your destiny, your future.
God calls things that are not as though they were. He speaks the end – the desired result.
Most heroes of the word gave excuses why they were not qualified.
When God asks you a question, it is not because He doesn’t know the answer.
a. He is about to change your life.
b. If you do not understand where you are, you are not ready to move ahead.
How To Look At Failure
Failure is not the issue but how you handle it.
a. Plan to fail more than once.
b. Then plan to get back up when you fail.
c. When you fail, use it to your advance.
Failure is not a sin, but a momentary weight.
What Makes You a Failure?
Failure Is What You Do – Not Who You Are
Failing does not make you a failure. Quitting makes you a failure.
a. Once you leave the fight, there is no more God can do for you.
b. Even if you are bloody, wounded, and scared, God can still turn it around.
Failing does not make you a failure. Not learning from failing makes you a failure.
a. If you are still making the same mistakes after ten years, you have not learned from your mistakes.
b. Edison tried over 1000 times to make the light bulb. When asked by a reporter what it felt like to be a failure 1000 times, Edison said, “I am not a failure. The light bulb was simply a 1000 step process.”
c. You are not a failure. You just found another way it didn’t work.
Failing does not make you a failure. Blaming someone else for your failing makes you a failure.
a. Our first reaction is to blame someone.
b. There are people who have had it worse than you and done better.
c. There are people who have had it better than you and done worse.
d. Nothing will happen in your life until you quit blaming others and say, “I am accepting the blame for my own mistakes and failures.”
e. You might say you came from a dysfunctional family. We all came from a dysfunctional family. The first one was in Eden. The first child murdered the second.
When you learn how to handle failure, you will begin to succeed.
If you see failure as part of the creative process, you no longer fear it.
a. There is a way of living where we are not afraid to step out and possibly fail.
b. We expect to fail at one time or another.
c. We also expect to get up after we fail.
Give yourself enough room to fail.
Have room in your daily plans for the unexpected. Expect the unexpected. Expect to fail at some point.
Recovering From Failure
1. Three Rules for Bouncing Back:
Check your goals. Unrealistic expectations will set you up for failure.
Write your goals down. Make the vision plain. Write it down so those who read it can run with it. If you don’t know where you are going any road will get you there.
Do not expect to do it perfectly the first time. How big is your mistake quota?
100 college students were divided into two groups. The first group was told to take clay make as many coffee mugs as possible in one hour. 50 mugs would bring an A, 40 a B, etc.… The second group was told to make one mug as perfect as possible. At the end of one hour, the teacher had a great look into human nature. The first group made many mugs, each one better than the mugs before. The second group made nothing. They theorized all hour and still had the lump of clay they began with.
2. Don’t Be Afraid to Try a Different Method.
Fortune magazine ran an article on four men who are very wealthy and successful. Each had an average of seventeen attempts at a business before they hit the method that took them to the top. What if they had quit at number five or even sixteen?
You may be knocked down, but you need to get back up.
You have to take risks in obedience to God. Feel the fear – do it anyway.
Courage is mastery over fear – not the absence of fear.
The battle begins when our feet hit the floor. Some days you will be motivated, other days you will not.
a. Quit looking for motivation. Press on anyway.
b. When motivation fails – discipline will work.
3. If You Want to Live Risk-Free - Do Nothing.
20% of all accidents happen in a car – don’t drive.
17% happen at home – move out.
16% happen on air, sea, and land – don’t travel.
15% happen walking down the street – where are you going to go?
28 people die annually in bed when they hit their head on the headboard getting into bed – don’t go to bed.
4. Use Your Strengths and Stuff Your Weaknesses.
No one is a composite of all strengths. Use the resources around you.
Dwight L. Moody said you can do the work of ten men, or you can get ten men to do the work. Then you are ten times more successful.
5. Are You Humble Enough to Seek Out a Guide in Life?
Are you secure enough to delegate?
Do you trust others enough to delegate?
6. Never Let One Experience – Good or Bad – Color Your View of Yourself.
Change Is A Choice
If you want to change your future, change your attitude. If you want to change your attitude, change your thinking. You do not have more problems than anyone else – you just think about them more often.
“Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” Hebrews 10:35, 36
