When Failure is Good
It's not that I like to fail at what I'm trying to accomplish. It's not that I like it when I put my all into something and it doesn't work out.
And it's not that I think you're not really annoyed, or unnerved, or even despondent sometimes when you fail at something you've worked hard at, or you've aspired to.
You do fail from time to time, don't you? Ah, of course you do. All of us do sometimes. Heck, if we don't fail once in a while, it's pretty much because we're not trying hard enough. Work is challenging. The answers to questions, the solutions to problems aren't always staring us in the face. And so we strike out kind of on our own and try something new. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
But besides failure being perfectly normal - even multiple failures, over and over - there's an even better consolation for us when we fail. There's a really good chance that God's behind it.
Oh, not that He enjoys seeing us fail or anything. The thing to remember is that He's always looking out for us, and when we fail, there's a really good chance that the whole point of our failure is to turn to Him, to see that - and this is important - whether we succeed or fail in our work isn't half as important as the state of our soul and our spiritual progress.
What God wants is our perfection. He wants us to Love Him. He wants us to become holy, to become saints. And the first step in becoming a saint is to conquer ourselves, not to conquer the world.
And maybe God's plan this day - maybe (I shudder to think of this, but really it's true) His plan for our whole lives is that we really don't become all that successful at anything we try - if because of our failures we conquer ourselves and become saints.
This isn't an excuse not to strive, or a reason to become passive. I'm not trying to discourage you. But I am trying to point out that what's most important is our holiness, our sainthood - not making a million bucks, or building a mighty enterprise.
Even when we figure that our business success will allow us to "do good" for others through our charity, we could be barking up the wrong tree if we're not even more focused on becoming a saint. God wants each of us, as individuals, to love Him. And it's as individuals facing our difficulties during the work day, striving and sometimes - or even mostly - failing that He tries us, hones our holiness, helps us be perfect in our individual spiritual lives.
I don't want to fail. But if that's what God wants, if that's how He makes me holy, then so be it.
And it's not that I think you're not really annoyed, or unnerved, or even despondent sometimes when you fail at something you've worked hard at, or you've aspired to.
You do fail from time to time, don't you? Ah, of course you do. All of us do sometimes. Heck, if we don't fail once in a while, it's pretty much because we're not trying hard enough. Work is challenging. The answers to questions, the solutions to problems aren't always staring us in the face. And so we strike out kind of on our own and try something new. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
But besides failure being perfectly normal - even multiple failures, over and over - there's an even better consolation for us when we fail. There's a really good chance that God's behind it.
Oh, not that He enjoys seeing us fail or anything. The thing to remember is that He's always looking out for us, and when we fail, there's a really good chance that the whole point of our failure is to turn to Him, to see that - and this is important - whether we succeed or fail in our work isn't half as important as the state of our soul and our spiritual progress.
What God wants is our perfection. He wants us to Love Him. He wants us to become holy, to become saints. And the first step in becoming a saint is to conquer ourselves, not to conquer the world.
And maybe God's plan this day - maybe (I shudder to think of this, but really it's true) His plan for our whole lives is that we really don't become all that successful at anything we try - if because of our failures we conquer ourselves and become saints.
This isn't an excuse not to strive, or a reason to become passive. I'm not trying to discourage you. But I am trying to point out that what's most important is our holiness, our sainthood - not making a million bucks, or building a mighty enterprise.
Even when we figure that our business success will allow us to "do good" for others through our charity, we could be barking up the wrong tree if we're not even more focused on becoming a saint. God wants each of us, as individuals, to love Him. And it's as individuals facing our difficulties during the work day, striving and sometimes - or even mostly - failing that He tries us, hones our holiness, helps us be perfect in our individual spiritual lives.
I don't want to fail. But if that's what God wants, if that's how He makes me holy, then so be it.
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