When normal failure just doesn’t cut it! EPICFAIL

CONTROLLING THE PEST OF

FAILURE

Failure is an event, not a destiny.

(Ray Pritchard)

Failure is always inevitable

Basically, all of us, whether insiders or outsiders, start out in identical conditions, which is to say that we all start out as sinners. Scripture leaves

no doubt about it:

There’s nobody living right, not even one, nobody who

knows the score, nobody alert for God. They’ve all taken the

wrong turn; they’ve all wandered down blind alleys.

No one’s living right; I can’t find a single one . . . And it’s

clear enough, isn’t it, that we’re sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with

everybody else? (Romans 3: 9-11, 23 – The Message)

Failure is completely forgivable

God makes everything come out right; he puts victims back on their feet . . . God is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, he's rich in love.

He doesn't endlessly nag and scold, nor hold grudges forever. He doesn't treat us

as our failures deserve, nor pay us back in full

for our wrongs.

As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is his love to those who fear him. And as far as sunrise is from sunset,

he has separated us from our sins.

every one

As parents feel for their children, God feels for those who fear him. He knows us

inside and out, keeps in mind that we're made of mud.

(Psalm 103:6, 8-14)

every one

He canceled the record of the charges against us

and took it away by nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:14 - NLT)

every one

Failure is extremely beneficial

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached

perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for

which Christ Jesus first possessed me.

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I

focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what

lies ahead,

I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the

heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus,

is calling us. (Philippians 3:12-14 – New Living Translation)

This man’s “failure” created

one of the world’s most famous office

products!

Failure is never final

Good people might fall again and again, but they always

get up. (Proverbs 24:16 – Easy To Read Version)

Peter said, “Master, I’m ready for anything with you. I’d go

to jail for you. I’d die for you!” Jesus said, “I’m sorry to have

to tell you this, Peter,

but before the rooster crows you will have three times

denied that you know me.” . . . One of the serving

maids sitting at the fire noticed him, then took a second look and said,

“This man was with him!” He denied it, “Woman, I don’t even know him.” A short time later, someone else noticed him and said, “You’re one

of them.”

But Peter denied it: “Man, I am not.” About an hour later, someone else spoke up, really

adamant: “He’s got to have been with him! He’s got

‘Galilean’ written all over him.”

Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

At that very moment, the last word hardly off his lips,

a rooster crowed. Just then, the Master turned and looked

at Peter.

Peter remembered what the Master had said to him:

“Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”

He went out and cried and cried and cried.

(Luke 22:33-34, 56-62 – The Message)

Behind this story lies a wonderful, liberating,

hope-filled truth: Failure is an event, not a destiny.

This is good news because we all fail sooner or later,

and if we are honest, we all fail over and

over again.

As Peter’s story abundantly proves, it’s not our initial failure

that ruins us. It’s what happens next that

matters.

Failure doesn’t mean you have blown everything. It

means you have some hard lessons to learn. It doesn’t mean you are a

permanent loser.

It means you aren’t as smart as you thought you were. It doesn’t mean you should give up. It means

you need the Lord to show you the next step.

It doesn’t mean that God has abandoned you.

It means that God has a better plan.

(Ray Pritchard)