“All of us have failed, falling way short of fulfilling the beauty of God‘s plan, that which God intended us to be.” (paraphrase of Romans 3:23)
All too often in life people allow themselves to be defined by their failure, but I want you to know that failure is a part of life for every individual on this planet. The key is not to allow your failure to define you.
Everybody wants success. The fact is; I’ve never met anyone who’s said, “My life goal is to fail.” Everyone strives for success because failure comes all too easy. So, the bruital fact is, failure is a part of life, because no one is perfect.
So, WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU FAIL? Let me mention four things to you.
1. REMEMBER EVERYBODY FAILS – In James 3:2 (NIV) it says, “We all stumble in many ways.” Ecclesiastes 7:20 tells us that “There is no one on earth who does what is right all the time and never makes a mistake.” (GN)
2. REALIZE IT’S NOT FATAL – When we do fail, we often over overstate the effects of our failure. We blow it out of proportion. It’s not the end of the world. With failure – you fail, but you pick yourself up and you go on. Proverbs 24:16 says; “For a righteous man falls seven times, and always gets back up.”
The only difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is successful people simply get up and keep on going. Successful people are persistent. They have endurance. Paul understood this. In 2 Corinthians 4:9 it says, “We are cast (struck) down but we’re not destroyed.” You have to get up from falling. You have to get up and try again. Everybody falls. But it’s really not failure if you’ll get back up! You’re never a failure until you quit.
3. RECOGNIZE THE BENEFITS – Are there any benefits? We usually think of failure as a negative experience. But wise people learn from failure. Wise people use failure to their advantage. They learn from it, and grow. They use it as a stepping stone. They get back up and try again.
Thomas Edison failed 9,999 times before he figured out the light bulb. He said, “They were not failures, I just learned 9,999 ways it wouldn’t work.”
Failure is one of the tools God uses in your life to mold you, shape you, develop your character.
Psalm 119:71 “My troubles all turned out for the best. They forced me to learn from God’s textbook.” The Message Bible Also, “A man who refuses to admit his mistakes will never be successful” (Proverbs 28:13).
4. REST IN GOD’S GRACE – God isn’t surprised when you fail. But know, God doesn’t stop loving you. That’s called grace. Psalm 103:14 “For he understands how weak we are; he knows we are only dust.”
Your value as a person has nothing to do with your performance. God says, “I love you – period!” God’s love for you isn’t dependent upon what you do. It’s dependent upon who He is. It’s not based on your performance.
If you think you have to be perfect in order for God to love you, you have missed the central message of the Bible. You are precious in His sight?
When Jesus Christ died for you on the cross, He paid for every failure you’re ever going to commit – the ones you did yesterday, the ones today and the ones tomorrow. The point is, you can rest in God’s grace. No matter how you fail,“if you have committed your life to Christ “(that’s the key), and will return to Him, God will pull you through your failure. He’ll even turn it around and use it for good.
Some of you may have gone through major failures in your life, and some of you may be in them right now. Remember this one simple truth; when you’re in the middle of a failure, it’s often difficult to see God’s hand in your life. But the Bible is full of examples of failures that God used in significant ways. Abraham failed with his wife. Isaac and Noah failed with their kids. Moses failed to control his anger and killed a guy. David had a moral failure, committed adultery, and then killed the husband. Peter disowned Jesus three times.
Thank God that He uses failures. If God only used perfect people, nothing would get done in this world, because there are no perfect people.
Let me encourage you to give your failures to God. Let Him transform them, teach you, motivate you, cultivate you through them and grow you by them. If you’re willing to be honest about them, God can even use your area of failure to teach, help and even deliver other people.
I don’t care what failure you struggle with and stumble over. God still has a plan for your life. God still has a purpose for your life. And God still has a place for you in this world. You just need to Face The Facts About Failure!
Will you give your failings and failures to God today?
Loving ya always in Christ!
P Rob
robindonley 
THANK YOU PASTOR ROBIN FOR BEING HERE TO PASS ON GOD’S WORD TO HIS PEOPLE.
I PRAY THAT YOU ARE DOING BETTER TODAY. HAVE GREAT DAY! LOL jc
Thx Jerry much better! I want you to know your smile is infectious and encouraging. I see God in you everytime I see you and I praise God for what He is doing in your life.
Blessings
P Rob
We are SOOOOOOOooo blessed that God has sent us a Pastor after his own heart. This message is so encouraging, i believe condemnation is the enemies number one tool, if let go, and unchecked, it will cause us to focus on(us) and our imperfections and not on (the one) God see’s first; before he sees us. Thank you Pastor for your love and dedication to Gods people!!! Did I mention WE ARE BLESSED?
Thanks for the nice comments Randy. You are so right, as Christians we are not condemned but are REDEEMED! This is why I started this series we are in: “Inside Salvation.” As a pastor, I want to make sure the people of God understand what Christ really did for them and who they are as adopted children of God. Thx again!
This is a hard message to accept for all to many people, (including me) and I know it disorients people from God constantly… Jesus did not come to heal the healthy, but the sick… and yet the sick often feel beyond salvation…
A favorite lyric from Pedro the Lion: ‘the bad have lived in wickedness, and its a steep slope with a short rope… the good have lived in arrogance, and its a steady flow, moving to and fro…”
I am still learning the benefits of failure, in my personal life. and am trying my best to accept the bibles wisdom… but its hard for me.
I waited and waited to become baptized until I felt I was ready and blameless before God and the time never came… I finally realized that Christian life is one of constant review, and constant failure in ourselves (at the age of 25)… our strength is in the Perfect One, who came to show us the blameless way to salvation through the admission of failure, and for that, and only that am I ready to meet my Maker.
I am all but surely confident that if on my own accord I went to meet our Maker, that I would be at a loss of words… and for that I am only more thankful that Jesus will be there to speak on my behalf, on my failure, and consequently on his ultimate sacrifice for my redemption…
I wish I could repeat the title of your message again and again and truly accept it… I know its true, but equally difficult to believe and continue with.
Kyle
Kyle, I feel ya! I too struggle with much of what you describe within myself. I just turned 50 and find myself reviewing life a little different and many questions, still unanswered. Why do I struggle with these feeling and those emotions and the list goes on, (for me) making those mountains out of mole hills.
Here is what I have learned (of course not mastered, lol) It is when I take “my eyes” off the way I look and feel about myself and allow myself to see the way God sees me, that reestablishes my real self worth and calling in my life. I know I am messed up but I love how the psalmist reminds us; “You (God) made my whole being; you formed me in my mother’s body. I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way. What you have done is wonderful. I know this very well.” Psalm 139:13-14.
Freedom (or release) from my thoughts comes to me when I engross myself in God’s presence and His Word it is only then am I able to look “through” my failures and see all the victories God has done and continues to do. He is doing the same for you and everyone else. Thx Kyle! Appreciate you!