Habakkuk
3:17-18 Though
the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the
olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and
there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy
in the God of my salvation.
Failure is the opportunity God
provides us to change direction and move into a further unfolding of His
eternal plan for our lives. Failing at something is not always a bad thing.
Failure causes us to look at our actions, reconsider or review our choices and
circumstances that led to the day at hand. Failure helps us learn and is also
necessary for us to grow forward, away from the past.
When we move away from the
failure we are free to begin again. We are free to apply different ideas,
abilities and other tools to the future in ways that are new. We experiment
with new ideas, practices and locations as we strive to find a new direction or
new results in our endeavor. Thomas Edison once said: “I have not failed. I’ve
just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
In some ways, failure is a gift
of God’s grace toward us. It is a gift for all of life, both failure and
success, is a gift from Him. The closing of one activity, relationship or idea
is the end God intended for our life journey. Thank you Jesus for not allowing
us to travel or accomplish what you did not want for us.
Life’s calling is best discerned
and most clarified when failure happens. Events are forced upon us for a new
direction and for change. The creative nature God has instilled in the hearts
of man-kind is best released for new creativity when failure occurs. The past
is stopped and a new direction is found and creativity is exercised on a whole
new playing field.
God created diversity in creation and maintains it to
this day. One may fail at an activity while a similarly equipped individual
succeeds. Is the one person necessarily more deficient than the other? Do we
blame it on intellect, ability, education or other human measures? It is better
to see it as God’s decision that equally able and gifted people are not equally
destined by Him to that same vocation or activity.
