Adversity is something no one welcomes, but everyone invariably experiences. To one degree or another, everyone fails. But you and I can fail without being a failure.
Babe Ruth was a great baseball player and for many years was the home-run king with 714 career home runs. However, he also held another record: He struck out w 1,330 times. Baseball fans think of him as a succcess even though he failed many times.
Beethoven was told by his music teacher that he could never make it as a composer. Churchill failed the sixth grade. Edison was sent home once from school because his teacher thought he was too dumb to learn. Einstein was four years old before he could talk. All of these people are regarded in their particular fields of expertise as great succcesses – but they also failed.
William Backus and Marie Chapian have written a book, “Telling Yourself the Truth,” which has helped many over-come depression, fear, anxiety and other problems. The main theme of the book is that most of us have developed misbeliefs that we embrace. These misbeliefs prevent us from practicing the truth and, in turn, experiencing freedom. The authors write, “Once-fail-always-fail is a misbelief and a lie!”
It can be painful, embarrassing, costly and debilitating to fail. But failing and being a failure are not the same. We become failures when we give up and quit. The idea of “try, try, again” is not simply a cheer but a goal for efffective living. Adversity, like failure, is often the way we learn the most. It is not easy, but it can be very profitable for us in our personal and spiritual journeys.
We cannot avoid trouble. Job 5:7 says, ” Man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward.” We do not have to be failures. Trouble or difficulty should not be the definition of our lives, but rather who we are because we kept on keeping on as we followed Christ and sought His kingdom.
In Phillippians 4:13, Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Him (Christ) who strengthens me.” It is this attitude that empowers us to become much better than failures. We are more than conquerors through Christ our Lord.