BEING A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE

But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. (‭Micah‬ ‭7‬:‭7-8‬ ESV)

As I was praying this morning I had a familiar flashback of places in my life that I failed. To some people these things might not be major events but to me they were places that I dropped the ball - decisions I've made, words that I've spoken, people that I've wounded. And... isn't is interesting that the enemy has a way to bring those things before your face while you are seeking God's face.

Let's talk a bit about failure today. For some it is not living up to certain expectations, to be a disappointment. It may be a breakdown in our lives, it may be a let down. There was once a man who said, “We are either failing, or living with the consequences of failure, or recovering from failure, or facing failure in the face, or living with the fear of failure.” 

Some of us may be feeling like we are failing now, some of us are living with the consequences of past failures, and some of us may be living in the fear of failing. We may be failing in what we should be doing, or we may be failing in doing what we shouldn’t. Others may know about your failures, or maybe only God knows. We may feel that we are failures as parents, or as spouses. We may feel that we are failures as examples that we should be. In almost any area of our lives, we can feel like a failure. The prophet Micah knew about failure. He said, “when I fall,” not “if I fall”. 

For the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity. (‭Proverbs‬ ‭24‬:‭16‬ ESV) 

The fact is this: we all fail at some point or another.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬ ESV)

One of Satan’s chief deceptions is to make failure seem unusual. That’s why he works on us so much when we do fail, that’s why he tells us that we have really messed things up now, that nobody has ever failed like we have failed. 

Adam and Eve failed God, Noah through drunkenness, failed God, Abraham, through fear, failed God, Moses, through impatience, failed God, David, through lust, failed God and also as a father, was a failure. Every man, every woman, regardless of how great we want to make them out to be, has failed God. Failure is common to all of us for all of us here tonight, either through word, thought, or deed, has failed God. The enemy that we have, the enemy that Micah mentions who rejoices at our failure and greatly desires it, seeks to do all that he can so that we will live our lives bound by failure.

No one waits in line to be a failure. You will never hear any child state that they hope to grow up and be a failure. Failure can be fierce for it leads to fear.

In 1st Samuel 17:11, Goliath and the Philistines challenged the armies of Israel every day... 

When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. (‭1 Samuel‬ ‭17‬:‭11‬ ESV)

Failure robs confidence and faith so much so that some become fearful of even trying again.

When Adam failed God, he was afraid to face Him as He walked in the cool of the day. When Peter denied Christ, he wept bitterly instead of standing up for Him. 

Micah said, “when I fall, I shall arise again.”

It is said that Thomas Edison performed 50,000 experiments before he succeeded in producing a storage battery. We might assume the famous inventor would have had some serious doubts along the way. But when asked if he ever became discouraged working so long without results, Edison replied, "Results? Why, I know 50,000 things that won’t work."

Abraham Lincoln was considered by many Americans as a most successful president. It was strange that he was a man marked for failure, a man suffering from melancholia, who endured long periods of depression throughout his life. He could barely see out of one eye. He had frequent nervous attacks, severe headaches, indigestion and nausea. He had a couch placed near his desk in the White House so he could quickly lie down when one of his spells came over him. When Lincoln was 10 years old he was kicked in the head by a horse and experts now believe that the skull was severely fractured, leaving him with lifelong problems. When he came to deliver the now famous address at Gettysburg, he was coming down with smallpox. Lincoln failed in business in 1831, was defeated for the legislature in 1832. The next year he suffered another business defeat and in 1836 had a nervous breakdown. He failed to be elected speaker in 1838, was defeated for elector in 1840, and for Congress in 1843, as well as in 1848. Lincoln failed to be elected to the Senate in 1855, and was defeated for the Vice Presidency in 1856 and for the Senate in 1858. However, being elected President in 1860, he could afford all those failures. Abraham Lincoln was truly a successful failure.

Some people are slow starters and may discover God’s purpose late in life. Moses was 80 years old when he began his life’s work. All that time God was preparing him to do one thing-lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. It could be that you are living to accomplish only one great task for God, and that all the rest of your life is merely preparation for that great heroic responsibility.

Yes, you might have failed and perhaps you are failing now. But again, like Micah... But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. (‭Micah‬ ‭7‬:‭7-8‬ ESV)