Ok to fail

Failure.

We’ve all had failures, and they’re none too pleasant. It’s usually not the failures we talk about, is it? We would much rather focus on the successes. But failure is inevitable. So what do we do? Do we stop trying? Do we give in and just wallow in self-pity? What’s the answer?

Let me encourage you with a little insight from God. When, not, “if,” but when you fail:

First, accept responsibility for your own failure. If you’ve made a mistake, admit it. Welcome to the human race! Don’t blame others. To blame others is to “be lame.” Losers love to blame bad luck, the economy, the boss, their spouse or even God for failure.

But winners never accuse others and never excuse themselves when they fail. In 1974, after an 88-game winning streak, the UCLA basketball team lost to Notre Dame in a game where they’d led by 11 points. The next day’s headline read: “Coach Wooden says, ‘Blame me!’” Wooden was a winner.

Proverbs 28:13 says:  A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance.

Second, recognize the benefits of failure. Failure teaches you what doesn’t work. Thomas Edison, the great inventor, said, “Don’t call it a failure. Call it an education!”

Failure forces you to be more creative as you look for new ways to accomplish something.  It prevents arrogance and egotism. If everything you did was a stunning success, no one could live with you.

Failure also causes you to reevaluate what’s important in life.  It’s one way God gets you to reflect on the direction of your life.

Proverbs 20:30 tells us: Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways.

Third, ask God for wisdom to understand what caused your failure. Why did you fail? Is there any reason you might have set yourself up to fail? There are many unconscious reasons we sometimes sabotage our own efforts:

• Fear of success – Success may mean handling more responsibility than you want to carry.

• Guilt – If you feel you don’t deserve to succeed, you may set yourself up to fail.

• Resentment – Some people fail as a way of getting even with those who are pressuring them to succeed.

James 1:5 tells us:  If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all.

And finally, forget the past and focus on the future. Your past is past. It’s water under the bridge. You can’t change it so you may as well stop worrying about it.

Philippians 3:13 & 14 says: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on.

When the great Polish pianist Ignace Paderewski first chose to study the piano, his music teacher told him his hands were much too small to master the keyboard.

When the great Italian tenor Enrico Caruso first applied for instruction, the teacher told him his voice sounded like the wind whistling through the window.

When the great statesman of Victorian England Benjamin Disraeli attempted to speak in Parliament for the first time, members hissed him into silence and laughed when he said, “Though I sit down now, the time will come when you will hear of me.”

Henry Ford forgot to put a reverse gear in his first car.

Albert Einstein failed his university entrance exams at his first attempt.

Thomas Edison spent $2,000,000 on an invention which proved to be of little value.

Very little comes out right the first time. Failures are fingerprints on the road to achievement. Abraham Lincoln’s life could demonstrate that the only time you do not fail is the last time you try something and it works.

You are going to have failures. In fact, I tell my leadership team that if they aren’t failing they aren’t trying anything new. We don’t want everything to fail, of course. But the truth is, failures are going to come. The key is to learn how to “fail forward” toward success.

My prayer for you this week is that your failures will lead to greater insight, wisdom and success in your life.