Failure is something that we all fear will happen to us. Failing is especially scary if we feel we aren’t ready or equipped with the proper knowledge for what we are required to do. Another area many people fear is that they will make the wrong life choices which ultimately lead to a painful failure. We fear failing in many different ways, and circumstances. It’s an embarrassment to tell others that you failed in whatever you are trying. But did you actually fail?
Have you ever thought of the lessons learnt in the times that you did fail? Even the worst and most painful failures that happen in our lives are put there by our ever-faithful God. While they might feel like anything but a lesson at the time, He knows what these things will teach us in these circumstances and He controls them to limit the negative outcome that comes with failure.
In church on Sunday evening we sang Psalter 407 arranged from Psalm 149. The fourth stanza really made me think about the failures that happen in each of our lives; big or small, easy or hard they happen. The stanza is this:
“For this is His word: His saints shall not fail, But over the earth Their power shall prevail; All kingdoms and nations Shall yield to their sway. To God give the glory And praise Him for aye.”
The line “For this is His word: His saints shall not fail” really hit me. His saints shall not fail. Shall not fail. As a follower of God He promises here that we won’t fail. It’s hard but seeing that the perceived failure is a lesson from God and even the hardest failure is a lesson by which He is teaching us. The lesson could be simple, it could be humbling, it could be painful, it could be troubling or it could be something that makes you ask why. Why did I fail that test? Or, why is this happening in my life?
No matter the lesson in the failure He is there with you making sure that you only fail as much as He needs you to in order to teach you what you need to learn. Learn that failing is a necessary thing that makes you remember that not all the plans you have agree with your Father’s and that His plans are better than yours. Looking up to Him might be the last thing that you want to do when things around you feel broken and out of alignment with what you were planning, but this is His divine plan in your life as hard as it might be look to Him.
Pray that you can see His lessons and His work in your life. Remember even in failures you are living His perfect plan for your life. Ask Him that He brings you closer to Himself or anyone that it might have affected is brought to Him as well. He never said that life would be easy for His children, but He did promise that He will protect you and will not give you more than you can handle.
God knows what you are in need of at every moment of your life. Have you praised Him for His lessons in your failures? Praise Him for the things He does in your life whether you understand it or not. In the moment you most likely won’t understand it, but He promises that you shall not fail.