Have you failed lately? That’s kind of a shocking question. No one I know sets out to fail. It’s not in anyone’s business or ministry plan. But it happens. So, then what?

Fred Smith told of a young man he had known who was a success story in the making. He was named Outstanding Young Man by a state business group. And his career took off like a rocket. But then he hit a brick wall. A major plan failed, he had to file for bankruptcy, and found himself dejected and sitting in Smith’s office. Fred Smith was a wise mentor to many in business and in ministry. He listened to the man tell of this terrible situation and what it meant to his career, and to him personally. Fred Smith let him talk. When he finished, Smith gave him words of both wisdom and encouragement. He said:

“Only your plans have failed; you have not.”

Has there been a project or venture you have tried that was not met with success? How did you feel? How long did it take you to get over it? For many of us who have walked that path, it is a hard thing to endure. We feel our reputation has been stained. If other people were affected, we wonder what they think of us. And we are sometimes afraid to step back up and try again…because we might fail again. Honest thoughts…but negative ones.

If you ask almost anyone to name the inventor of the light bulb, they will quickly say Thomas Edison. Yet Edison had hundreds of failures along the way. Someone once asked the inventor about all his failures. His response was both classic and instructional:

“I have not failed 10,000 times—I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”

Fred Smith felt we can look at our failures as pitons. These are the spikes driven into a crack in the rock that a climber uses to secure his rope. The piton becomes a way forward, a way up, and is necessary for a climber to be successful. Often our failures become stepping stones, or pitons, to success. Necessary experiences that can propel us toward our goal…our calling.

John Maxwell puts it this way:

“When you’re a leader, failure is your friend. In leadership, it’s not a question of if you fail, it’s a question of when—and how you respond.”

The Apostle Paul had a godly perspective on failure. His Lord spoke to his heart and told him:

“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT

And the Psalmist had a more personal and even higher perspective on failure:

My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,

but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.

Psalm 73:26 NLT

Have you failed lately? How have you handled it? What have you learned from it? And have you looked at your failure in a spiritual light? We may fail…humanly speaking…but God is our strength and in Him, we have the ultimate success.

God’s best,