I think that one of the most crippling things that I deal with in my personal life is the overwhelming sense that I am a complete and utter failure. It is the fear of failing that has motivated me to strive and achieve what the world would claim is success. But as I have said before what the world thinks is success isn't what God considers success.
Michael Jordan is arguably the greatest player that the NBA has ever seen. Part of what set him apart from other players of his generation and in my opinion, today's players was his personal philosophy about being willing to take a risk. He once said:
I have missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times, I have been trusted to take the game winning shot and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.
If you search through the record books you will find great men over and over again that lost more than they won. It wasn't the fact that they won that made them great, it was the fact that they never ever gave up. Babe Ruth struck out almost twice as much as he hit a homerun and he was one of the greats home run hitters of all time. Abraham Lincoln lost almost every election that he was in until he finally broke through and won the presidency of the United States.
We all fall short. We all fall down. We all fail.
The last 8 months I have failed more times than I have won. I have felt the sting of loss, I have felt the loneliness of losing, and I have felt the thrill of the win. All at the same time. Just because you win doesn't mean you are complete, it doesn't make you whole. I wish that I could express to you how many ways you will be confronted with loss in your life. Whether through death, jobs, relationships, or simply losing a game of checkers you will experience loss in your life if you live long enough.
Thomas Edison. the man that harnessed the power of electricity into that frustrating little piece of glass we call the light bulb, failed thousands of times before he came up with a design that would last. I can imagine that more than once he wanted to throw his hands up in defeat and just quit. Instead of giving up he pressed on through the failures and invented what most would say was the most revolutionary invention in the 19th century.
It is the times when things go exactly to our plan that we need to check the way that we respond. We have a few options but there is only one response that will help us move on and move forward.
GET OVER IT, GET UP, AND TRY AGAIN!
God doesn't intend for us to fail. he doesn't intend for us to fall short. But we are human. ultimately we all fail and we all fall short. A wise man once told me and I believe that this is a true statement: It isn't about how you start the race it is about how you finish it.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." Hebrews 12:1-3 ESV
Is there something that you have failed at in the past? Something that you keep failing at? Who's power are you making the attempt? When you fall into a mud puddle the only way you make it worse is if you stay there. Get up and try again! This time under the power and direction of God and not yourself.
Michael Jordan is arguably the greatest player that the NBA has ever seen. Part of what set him apart from other players of his generation and in my opinion, today's players was his personal philosophy about being willing to take a risk. He once said:
I have missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times, I have been trusted to take the game winning shot and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.
If you search through the record books you will find great men over and over again that lost more than they won. It wasn't the fact that they won that made them great, it was the fact that they never ever gave up. Babe Ruth struck out almost twice as much as he hit a homerun and he was one of the greats home run hitters of all time. Abraham Lincoln lost almost every election that he was in until he finally broke through and won the presidency of the United States.
We all fall short. We all fall down. We all fail.
The last 8 months I have failed more times than I have won. I have felt the sting of loss, I have felt the loneliness of losing, and I have felt the thrill of the win. All at the same time. Just because you win doesn't mean you are complete, it doesn't make you whole. I wish that I could express to you how many ways you will be confronted with loss in your life. Whether through death, jobs, relationships, or simply losing a game of checkers you will experience loss in your life if you live long enough.
Thomas Edison. the man that harnessed the power of electricity into that frustrating little piece of glass we call the light bulb, failed thousands of times before he came up with a design that would last. I can imagine that more than once he wanted to throw his hands up in defeat and just quit. Instead of giving up he pressed on through the failures and invented what most would say was the most revolutionary invention in the 19th century.
It is the times when things go exactly to our plan that we need to check the way that we respond. We have a few options but there is only one response that will help us move on and move forward.
GET OVER IT, GET UP, AND TRY AGAIN!
God doesn't intend for us to fail. he doesn't intend for us to fall short. But we are human. ultimately we all fail and we all fall short. A wise man once told me and I believe that this is a true statement: It isn't about how you start the race it is about how you finish it.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." Hebrews 12:1-3 ESV
Is there something that you have failed at in the past? Something that you keep failing at? Who's power are you making the attempt? When you fall into a mud puddle the only way you make it worse is if you stay there. Get up and try again! This time under the power and direction of God and not yourself.
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