Learning from our Failures

June 28

LEARNING FROM OUR FAILURES

“I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know me.” (Luke 22:34)

History is replete with illustrations of failure that led to success. Take notable figures like Thomas Edison or Abraham Lincoln. These great men experienced failure after failure before success came their way. For them failure was not a waste. It became their most valuable teacher.
A reporter once asked Thomas Edison about one of his inventions. Edison informed him that he had performed over one thousand experiments before he finally found what worked. The reporter was amazed that anyone would have the patience to keep on trying after one thousand failures. However, Edison reminded the reporter that nothing was wasted. He said, “I discovered one thousand things that did not work.”

What have you learned from your failures? Or should I ask, are you learning from your failures? Failure should never be final. We should learn from our failures and move forward.

What do you think Simon Peter learned from his failures? Let me suggest some things he may have learned.

I think Simon Peter may have learned humility. He had a tendency to overly confident. He would brag about his abilities and his commitment. It was failure that taught him that his confidence had to be in God and not in himself.

I once heard of a young preacher who went to the pulpit with an air of arrogance. In the pulpit he flopped and floundered. He left the pulpit broken and embarrassed. His pastor said to him, “If you had gone in as you came out, you would have come out as you went in.”

Failure can introduce us to ourselves. And this can be a good thing.

Simon Peter was probably more sympathetic with others after he had experienced failure. Failure can make us less judgmental of others and more sympathetic.

One of the greatest discoveries we can make in time of failure is that God’s grace is sufficient to pick us up and clean us up and put us on the path again. Did you know that you are never beyond the reach of God’s grace. He specializes in turning failure into success.

What have you learned from your mistakes? -- Dr. Roger D. Willmore is Senior Pastor at Deerfoot Baptist Church and will be a speaker this summer at America's KESWICK. Check our website for details: www.americaskeswick.org

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 28; Job 11-13; Acts 9:1-21

Great Quote: A want of assurance is not unbelief. Drooping spirits may be believers. There is a manifest distinction made between faith in Christ and the comfort of that faith, between believing to eternal life and knowing we have eternal life. There is a difference between a child's having a right to an estate and his full knowledge of the title. Stephen Charnock