Failure is Such a Strong Word for Accomplishment

Failure is Such a Strong Word for Accomplishment

By: Randy Jones

More and more today it seems people question almost everything because what use to seem so real and evident from our youth has now grown into so kind of quest of reassurance that there was a simpler time with simpler methodology and system logy. Unfortunately life has become more complicated and yes times have become more increasingly tough to survive in or just simply exist in. So what surety do we search for? As we spend each day on an ever increasing charge to accomplish the American dream, as we rush to work and then rush to meetings then rush to the store, pay bills, get home, spend quality time with loved ones, and then try to schedule a point to slow down before we call it a day what is it that we have set to accomplish or obtain out of our regular day? Simply put, we have made it one day closer to the rest of our lives. We have worked one more day off the schedule to which we have set for ourselves to retire and live the good life, or possibility to get the kids through college, or maybe to just to pay off the car and house.

My ramblings have a point here I promise you. My point is that we are as a people and a nation very committed to obtaining our personal freedom and personal structured place in this world at generally the cost of exhausting hours, days and sometimes weeks away from loved ones and family all working through sickness and sanity in the name of accomplishment. Now if you know me and know my writings you are asking yourself about now when does the God talk come in on this maze of words? So glad you asked. People sometimes come to me and say, you know something you church people don't get stressed out allot do you? They seem to have the concept that all Christians are easy going and never to worried about things like mortgages and vehicle payments and pay raises, and I generally tell them "You are 100% correct!" After I get the deer in the headlights look from them I generally start of by saying; you know at one time I did worry about all those things, I worried which made me work harder, which in turn made me accomplish more and which then made me realize that I spent 80% of my life worrying and working and trying so hard to meet goals and of course with goals and accomplishments there is always one thing that we "I" never, ever stop to take into consideration, FAILURE!

This is when everything we have is going great and inline with our specific set goals and we feel on top of the world because we look around and smile at our net worth and our assets and we think WOW! I have everything right where I need it in life. Then suddenly without notice your company goes out of business or sickness takes someone from you, or you get sick and can no longer work yourself and you can only set back and watch as things unwind slowly before you, your job, your finances, your future. Everything you have accomplished is now unfolding and falling apart before your very eyes and all you have ever known is success and this new found emotion of failure is simply too much to bare. What is the goal now? How can you overcome this and still see the value of your failure even to see a better future? This is where most people have found at this point in their lives what has made them Christians now. In the book of Matthew Ch 11: 28 there is a passage from Jesus that is so comforting, (1) "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." The Heavenly Father can see our day to day lives and our successes, He can see that most of the time when all is good that we do not call on Him, but as soon as our world is turned upside down we do not hesitate to call on the One we have never known. That's OK though because John 3:16 says it best of who Jesus came and died for and who He was risen for. (2) "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." Not to bad of a promise for someone you have never meet. I believe that it would be safe to say that a large majority of Christians became that way do to failure in their normal everyday lives. A great example is the Apostle Paul, he had a great career as a high prosecutor and loved his job, which by the way was to either make Christians miserable or see to it that they were severely punished for their beliefs in Christ. But when Paul's world fell apart on the road to Damascus one fine day, He immediately knew whose name to call out. The very name which he loved to inflict pain on but had never met came to his rescue and truly made a believer out of a man who was the biggest mortal enemy of Jesus at one time. This man became a leader of the Christian movement with just three missionary journeys that impacted continent after continent explaining how Christ took him from success to failure and back to eternal success.

So what does all of this add up to for the normal everyday working person? When failure strikes you out of no where and you call on the name of Jesus to help, you will find that your worst failure was your greatest accomplishment. You will find that when the world and life has beaten you to your knees, that you are in the perfect position to have eternal success. But you don't have to wait for failure to have a committed relationship with God. I can guarantee that if you start a relationship when things are good that you will see in a much better light if and when they go bad.

Notes, (1) and (2) ebible.com