“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13–14, ESV)
Success is born out of failure
I have learned more from failure than I have ever learned from success. Success often leads to complacency. We take things for granted.
Learn to embrace failure. Here is an example. Say you are in sales. For every twenty calls you make, you attain one sale. That means you will fail nineteen times before you close on a single deal. So what do you do when you make the call and are rejected? Do you wallow in pity that you missed out on a potential sale? Or do you rejoice because you know that you are one call closer to closing a deal?
Success in life is rarely experienced without failure. Success often comes as a result of a series of failures. Failure teaches us humility. It teaches us perseverance. It leads to a greater appreciation when we experience success. Every failure means we are one step closer to break through.
A way to the other side
At some point, you will hit a brick wall. Then there is a decision to be made. You can give up. Or you can figure out a way to go over or around it. The only way to lose in life is when you give up. And if God is with you, there is always a way to the other side.
In our verse for today, the Apostle Paul talks about straining forward to what lies ahead. He presses on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God. He acknowledges that it is difficult to keep moving forward. So we keep failure in perspective recognizing failure will ultimately move us forward if we are willing to embrace it.
Growth is not linear. For every two steps forward there may be one step back. Sometimes the biggest steps forward come on the heels of the biggest steps backward.
Best of Luck
Every once in awhile someone will wish me good luck. My typical response I don’t need luck. They look at me a bit curious. I tell them that I have something better than luck. I have God on my side.
I believe that when I live faithful, God will open doors of opportunity. When things don’t go the way I hope, I consider it a teaching moment. I ask what is God instilling in me?
What you don’t see with most every person who caught that lucky break is the 100 bad breaks they experienced beforehand. But when the opportunity came, they were ready to seize it. We are not victims of fate. We are more than conquerors through Christ. Make your own luck and embrace failure.
Reflection
- What have you learned from failure?
- Where is God calling you to embrace failure today and not give up?
- Do you believe in luck? Why or why not?
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