Failure Is Not An Option, It's A Given

Introduction

A lot of talk about success

  • Very little talk about failure

Truth is failure is more certain than success

  • Need to teach people how to fail and not just how to succeed
  • E.g. Mitchel – very competitive (good thing)

But you can’t win them all

When it comes to failure I’m a bit of an expert

  • Sport
    • Soccer – first goal I every scored was an own goal
    • State soccer team – failed twice before getting in
    • Gym – taking all the weights off one side
    • Banging my tooth on the hyper-extension
  • Work
    • First creative moment – Cutting Bubs hair
    • Salisbury Toyota – rolling paint (splashing 30 cars)
  • Buying gifts – Pop corn maker for mothers day
  • Sucking my finger – till age 7
  • Church
    • First preach – in Port Augusta
    • Preaching with my fly zipper down
    • Leading LTT – in USA

AMAZINGLY – Today leading a growing church

Point – still possible to have success after failure

  • Bible is full of stories like this
    • Joseph – sold into slavery (becomes prime minister of Egypt)
    • Gideon – hiding in a wine press (defeats the Midianites)

There must be a way of turning failure into success

  • For this to happen we need to know some things about failure

FAILURE FILES

1. Everyone fails

  • All as bad as each other

1 Co 1:26-29 NIV Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. (27) But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. (28) He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are, (29) so that no one may boast before him.

  • Foolish = (moros) stupid, dull ,blockhead
  • If someone said they never failed – they just failed (to tell the truth)
  • They lie to save face

Power of a balanced life – avoid all extremes

  • E.g. seasons – tree can look like a failure in winter

2. Failure is a not final

“Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street.”

“Success is never final; failure is never fatal”

Paul – disaster after disaster

  • Jail – ship wreck – snake bite – floggings
  • Stoned and left for dead – got up

“Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.”

Gal 6:9 NIV Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

3 Failure is a great teacher

How else do we learn what not to do?

  • Key – Turn failure into a lesson

I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong” (Benjamin Franklin)

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” (Colin Powell)

If stupid things were not done intelligent things would not happen (Tom Peters)

Life is not about doing something long enough till you get it right

  • E.g. Guitar
    • Not about never playing a wrong note again
    • Keep practising until I get I right
  • E.g. relationships
    • Had an argument – so that is the end of that
    • If that was true – we would all be on a deserted island

Only way to avoid failure is to say nothing and do nothing

  • That’s what the devil wants – wants to immobilize you
  • E.g. car immobilizer

"Try and fail, but don't fail to try.”

3 steps forward and 2 steps back = 1 step forward

4 The greater the achievement – the greater the failure

  • All of our greatest achievers failed the most
  • E.g. Thomas Edison – failed 10,000 times

Tom Edison – many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success before they gave up

Vincent van Gogh – only sold one painting in his life for a few dollars

Reason so many under achievers around is due to the Fear of failure

  • Starts a cycle – rejected – inaction – shut down no personal experience
  • Don’t learn anything to handle next problem
  • Increases the fear
  • Harder to overcome the next time

“The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” (Sven Goran Erikson)

Playing not to lose – Giving up on the game of life

Greatest discovery – you can get back up

  • Get on with it and start falling
  • If you know you can get back up – you stop concentrating on falling

E.g. Trapeze – Learn to fall well

  • Repeated fall convince them that the net is safe
  • Confidence and the daring – Adds to a better performance

If you know it is not terminal – if we know that we will be more confident

5 Failing doesn’t make you a failure

Must separate the problem for the person

I may have done some stupid THINGS but that doesn’t make ME stupid

A bad day is just a bad day

  • Having a bad day doesn’t make you a bad person (husband, pastor)
  • I have bad days – never had a bad week

A moment of triumph can make you feel like nothing can stop you likewise a moment of failure can make you feel like nothing will succeed. But neither feeling is right.

Devil wants to attack you not the problem – accuser

  • Speak to your World

(Psa 43:4-5 NIV) Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God. {5} Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

For the right things to prosper in our life our soul must agree to whatever resonates In your Spirit

What does your soul agree with

  • What God says – or the discouragement we face due to failure?

Talk to your soul

  • E.g. This is not a problem – this is just leading a church

Let the weak say – “I am strong”

6 Gods love never fails

1 Co 13:4-8 NIV Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. (5) It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. (6) Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (7) It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (8) Love never fails.

David – made a lot of mistakes as a father

  • Yet refused to destroy Judah because of David
  • E.g. Jehoram

2Ki 8:18-19 NIV He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD. (19) Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.

Peter disowned Jesus

  • Yet first thoughts after resurrection are of Peter

Mar 16:6-7 NIV "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. (7) But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'"

Conclusion

  • Good news – while we are all failures – God loves us

Rom 5:8 NIV But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.