Failures Can Be Teaching Experiences

March 25, 2001

"Einstein was four years old before he could speak.

Issac Newton did poorly in school.

Beethoven's music teacher once said of him, 'As a composer he is hopeless.'

F. W. Woolworth got a job in a dry goods store when he was 21, but his employers would not let him wait on a customer because 'he didn't have enough sense.'

Erico Caruso's music teacher told him, 'You can't sing. You have no voice at all.'

Louis Pasteur was rated as 'mediocre' in chemistry when he attended the Royal College.

Louisa May Alcott was told by an editor that she could never write anything that had popular appeal."

In the early stages of my writing, I received multiple rejections. With each one, I experienced failure and a sense of defeat, but with each rejection, I learned something new. I have kept at it and persistence has paid off, not that I have arrived. I still receive rejections, but I have also received acceptances. Had I given up early in the game, I would have never known the joy of writing or the thrill of publication.

Learning lessons from past mistakes enables future successes. "With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible" (Mark 10:27). The real secret is to "not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not" (Galatians 6:9).

Imagine Joseph's feeling of despair and failure when he was sold into slavery by his brothers, but he looked to his God and persisted. I love his faith-filled statement: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives" (Genesis 50:20 NIV).

Consider Queen Esther's situation when she dared to save her people from annihilation. Her courageous attitude displays her trust in God: "If I perish, I perish."

Bible history reveals story after story of failures turned into successes. It all happened when the people repented, turned to God and trusted Him and Him alone.

Imagine the despair of the disciples when they removed Jesus' body from the cross. All of their hopes and dreams had apparently failed, but imagine their joy when they discovered the empty tomb and when Jesus later appeared to them in Jerusalem. "When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy" (Luke 24:50-52).

The world was changed forever. Hallelujah! If you have experienced a failure lately, take courage and remember that with God, failures become victories.