Failure Isn't Fatal

You’ve probably felt like you messed up royally at some point. Failed yourself. Others. God. But don’t count yourself out. Failure isn’t the end, and what to do when it happens is simple.

Timestamps:

[00:04] - Intro

[00:32] - I recently experienced a personal failure at a writers’ conference.

[01:42] - Current culture makes us think that success should be easy and leaves us unprepared to handle failure well. 

[02:25] - Most successful entrepreneurs and innovators were serial failures.

[02:47] - God knows how many times you’ve struck out, but He looks at forward potential.

[03:14] - The Prodigal Son and the story of Peter’s denial both show that failure doesn’t mean we’re “done”. 

[03:50] - One of the big problems is that we have our own perception of what is supposed to happen. We don’t always see what God has in the works.

[04:44] - To deal with failure well, we have to accept that we might not have all the puzzle pieces.

[05:13] - You still might have to deal with the consequences of a failure, even if you are forgiven.

[06:09] - When you feel like you’ve failed, don’t count yourself out. Be transparent and ask for help.

[06:56] - Prayer

[07:50] - Outro/what’s coming up next

Key takeaways:

• After getting feedback about my novel at a writer’s conference, I felt like I’d failed. 
• Culture has fed us the idea that success is easy to achieve and that there’s something wrong with you if you fail. We’re not prepared for it well. But most successful people failed multiple times, often in huge ways.
• God is aware of every failure you make, but He always looks at what you still are capable of doing. The Prodigal Son and Peter’s denial are examples that show that God doesn’t count us out even when we miss the mark.
•  We don’t always have all the puzzle pieces about what God is trying to do, so our perception about whether we’ve failed or succeeded isn’t always accurate.
• Forgiveness after a failure doesn’t mean you won’t have consequences to deal with.
• When you fail, be honest and transparent and ask for help, rather than hiding what’s happened or how you feel.

Relevant Links:

CTAs:

• Be upfront with others and God when you fail. Be genuine with your sorry and trust that God will still use you.
• Visit patreon.com/FaithfulOnTheClock to become a supporting member of the show.

What’s coming up next:

Naggy Nancy. Narcissistic Newman. You know them. But when you encounter difficult people like this at the office, what should you do? How would God want you to deal with people who stress you out and cause trouble? Learn practical strategies for keeping conflicts under control when others don’t make it easy in Episode 8 of Faithful on the Clock.