Failure Doesn’t Have To Be Fatal

151,600.

It’s a large number. In fact it’s a daily average.

It comes out to about 105 per minute.

What is it?

The number of people who die each day. On average, 151,600 people around the world die every day.

However, this number drastically rises when people experience failure. Suicide, depression, isolation, and despair, along with a host of other things flood a soul with darkness when a failure is experienced.

But failure is not fatal. At least it doesn’t have to be.

God sees ‘success’ and ‘failure’ more in terms of relationships than of achievements, more in ‘being’ than in ‘doing’… Noah got drunk, Moses got angry and Gideon became scared. Peter could be inconsistent, Paul inconsiderate; Thomas doubted, Martha pouted. But God continued to love them and turned their failures into victories… The good news of the Christian faith is that failure need never be final. Ron Elbourne, ‘Parson’s Pitch’ 

How can we move from suffering the fatal blow of failure to a future full of hope?

Read Philippians 3:13-14

Focus Forward.

Press On. Only look back to gain perspective and wisdom. Don’t allow yourself to spend more time looking back than forward. A runner loses races by nanoseconds when they look backward instead of focusing forward. Spending much time on past losses and failures consumes energy that could be used to forge forward. Use the past for help reshape the future. Whatever you do, spend more time looking forward to what’s next than back at what could have been!

Listen Forward.

Lean In. Often voices from the past can haunt and taunt us. Instead, listen forward to the calling of God. Lean into the wind…the wind of His voice, His Spirit. Learning to discern the voice of God is crucial when we experience failure. Allow the Lord to woo you forward out of the mire of the deep losses. Listen to the words of forgiveness, hope and love that He showers on your soul. Pay attention to the sound of His voice as He comforts and consoles your soul. God never comes at His child with condemnation. Conviction, yes. Condemnation, no. Romans 8:1

Reach Forward.

Give Up? NEVER! Just remember that when you fall down, it’s much easier for everything else to be looking up! Our God is a God of the future. He is always moving and seeking to move us forward. His desire is not ever for us to move backward. Nor is it His desire for us to remain where we are but to reach forward for where He is. He is extending His hand seeking to lift us up  and all we have to do is reach forward!

George Lockhart is a missionary with Vision 2 Hear and serves as Youth Pastor at New Vision Church in Fayetteville, GA.