Have you ever fallen or made a mistake that you thought there was no way back from? As I watch humans flounder and learn, and flounder and learn myself, I often find that many times weakness often becomes a strength..if it is allowed to be.
For example, someone who has made a mistake in a moment of failure, repents honestly & openly, receives Grace and Help, and gets back up, is often more compassionate, humble, and kind to others who flounder in the same way. For some, the very failure that caused them to fall may even become their Mission or Purpose.
Thomas Edison, for example, failed over 1,000 times to make the light bulb. Yet, when he finally figured it out, the light bulb changed the whole trajectory of history!! His 1,000 failures converged to became one of his greatest accomplishments!
Failure is a great teacher. It humbles us...causes us to become more versatile, more flexible, more compassionate. It teaches us new paths forward. It, in essence, can be success suspended until we figure it out.
Winston Churchill, a writer, motivational orator, statesman, soldier, and finally the British Prime Minister who led England to victory in World War II, seemed to grasp this concept of failure and its direct relationship to success. Here are a few of his quotes:
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."
"The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see."
"To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day."
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
"In the course of my life I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet."
“Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential."
When Adam & Eve sinned in the garden in that first resounding Great Fall, I wonder what went through Father God's mind. Was He so very reluctant to give up on a Relationship with his children that He at that point, created a method that is akin to madness-to bring Great Good out of Men's Failures? To Bring Beauty out of Ashes? To Bring Redemption out of Sin? To Bring Good out of Evil? To Create Life out of Death?
I wonder sometimes, if we underestimate the Greatness of our Father God to take the failure of mankind, flip the script, and create the most resplendent, breath-taking beauty in which the jagged scars add to the glory. Indeed, did not the Bible heroes face failure, death, captivity, and betrayal? Yet, they managed to stagger back up from the brink of disaster with dignity and faith, held on to hope, and conducted themselves in true integrity, in spite of the hardships they faced.
If you find yourself facing something you can't seem to master, remember this; a righteous man always rises one more time than he falls. "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief." Proverbs 24:16
In other words, the wicked never get back up. But you will. You will get back up and try again. And one of these days, you will master it, complete with a shocking testimony of how in spite of all of the odds against you, YOU MADE IT!
Perhaps....just maybe, failure is a major part of success. Falling is big part of learning to walk.
So the next time you see someone getting up and falling down repeatedly in plain sight, offer a gentle hand to help him back up, smile to yourself, and say, "This person may be one failure away from his greatest Life's Achievement."
I Fell.
And in the harshness of my fall
There was a Hand.
He picked me up and helped me stand.
I Sank.
Beneath the waves….in tidal’s grave
A Hand He gave…
Upon the waves my life He saved.
I Failed.
And in the night of failure, dark,
I saw a Spark,
It steered me safely towards His Ark.
I Sinned.
And on the Hill I saw a Cross…
A nail-pierced Cost…
This bridge from God to me across.
I Die.
Yet in my death, brought back to Life,
Redeemed from strife,
My sin-stains cleansed to robes of white!
I Grow.
A seed, I sprout into a tree…
Shades o’re the lea,
Blooms into fruit that all can see.
I Thrive!
I’m drenched in Glory-Giving Grace
Upon more Grace!
Transfigured by His Shining Face.
I Soar!
On storm-wind’s gales I soar on High:
On High, I fly
Unlimited, above the sky!
I LIVE!
Because my Jesus lifted me…
Eternity…
A boundless Love surrounding me!
-gj
John 1:16
“And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.”
-One Bible Version translates it like this: "grace upon grace." How Shockingly Awesome: out of His completion…I amazed-ly lay hold to Layers upon layers of GRACE as I fall in my frail humanness...
I get back up, and I try again. ❤🙏✝️❤️😇💃🏻
Feel free to share this post with your friends or neighbors, and don't forget to subscribe. Much Love, Glenda
💖Want to hear more about Grace? Click on the button to read another post I wrote about Grace.
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