TODAY! 21 day devotion by: H.R. Lister
Day 19: “Success after Failure”
How many of you love to fail?
I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say: I just love failing so much, I want to do it all the time!
But, how many of you have failed?
Sure, we’ve all failed at something…
Some failures are minor and some are major, meaning: Some carry heavier consequences than others…
Some failures affect something as minor as our mood that day and some can affect the entire future of our life and the lives of those around us…
“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” - Denis Waitley (Motivational Speaker)
“If an inventor fails 999 times, and succeeds once, he’s in. He treats his failures simply as practice shots.”
– Charles F. Kettering (Inventor, Founder of AC Delco, Head of research at GM from 1920-1947)
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
– Henry Ford
(One British Author wrote:) “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.”
“Failure isn’t fatal, but failure to change might be.”
– John Wooden (UCLA Basketball coach, 10 championships in 12 yrs. with a streak of 7 in a row)
I hate FAILING!!!! I never want to be called a failure or be associated with failures! I’ve seen enough failure in my life…
Failed marriages, failed careers, failed relationships, failed sobriety, failed financial situations, failed ministries, failed churches, failed pastors and mentors…. I don’t like it and that attitude can really keep you from becoming who God has called you to be…
THE FEAR OF FAILURE!!!!
-We can’t be scared to fail, or live in fear to the point we’re scared to step out in faith….
So… What do we do when we have failed?
How do you find success after failure?
Someone we can look at in the Bible for encouragement is Peter…
One thing we know about Peter, HE WASN’T AFRAID TO FAIL… He did it quite regularly…
Peter’s Ups and Downs
Dropped everything to follow Jesus (Left even His business)
Repeatedly sticks his foot in his mouth and was even called SATAN by Jesus….
Walks on water,,, and sinks….
falls asleep while in prayer with Jesus…
cuts off a guys ear
Denies Jesus 3 times after Jesus said he would do it…
Leaves the ministry, to go back to his former life of fishing
repents and becomes the foremost leader in the New Testament Church!
Dies one of the most courageous deaths on record, being crucified upside down on the cross….
There were guys that showed much more trust, stability and loyalty than Peter did but when it came down to it, Jesus looked right past Peter’s failures and saw his heart and his purpose!
No matter your failures, God has placed specific gifts and callings on your life that do not go away just because of mistakes…
Romans 11:29 “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
Depending on your failures and the consequences they carry, your life may look different and it may be with a different group of people doing a different thing. But God always sees the value in you and will always back up your gifts and callings where there is true repentance….
You can’t unscramble eggs, you can’t call back the bullet, sometimes you can’t heal the wounds our words cause in a person’s life…. But you can repent and let God start a new day and a new season in your life…
I hear people all the time with their regrets and wishing for yesterday…
I just want it to go back to the way it was…. It can never be the way it was because, for one: Yesterday is gone and two: Most of the time it wasn’t the way you thought it was in the first place…
Life is too short to waste one day in a failed attempt at life!
We must get up, repent and seek God for where we go from here…
Maybe you’re an alcoholic, you don’t have to stay that way…
Maybe you’ve had failed relationship after failed relationship…
Maybe you’ve done and said things in your marriage that your spouse won’t forgive you for….
Maybe you feel like you’ve failed in raising kids
Maybe you’ve made bad financial decisions
Maybe you think you’re perfect and you have a failure to see reality…
If you’re still breathing, it’s not over!!!!
-You can’t help how people see you or the place that they hold you in society, but you can help how you see yourself, you can start to see yourself as God sees you and you can start to follow His plan for your life no matter the setbacks you may have had….
Psalm 103:12 “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
Hebrews 8:12 “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”
John 21:15-19 “ So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” 16) He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” 17) He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep. 18) Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” 19) This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”