Wednesday Bible Blurb Failure is not an option 6 12 2024
You are sitting reading this weekly Bible Blurb by the light of your lamp because someone refused to fail. Thomas Edison tried and “failed” 2,774 times before he patented the incandescent light bulb in 1879. His invention enabled a light bulb to burn for 1,200 hours before the filament would burn out. He never quit or gave up, he chalked 2,774 “failures” up to 2,774 ways not to invent a lightbulb. Imagination is a key to fulfilling dreams. Thomas Edison imagined success and refused to fail.
I do not believe in failure. Of my eleven Wallace Family Rules for Success, number nine is, “Failure is not an option.” If we believe it is okay to fail, we can mentally allow ourselves to quit and be a failure. Everyday we face trials in our lives which we must overcome. Failure is simply not an option. We can overcome and succeed in His way of life because “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31[NKJV]). With God on our side, we win.
Joshua had been by the side and the assistant of Moses for 40 years. He daily saw God protect and guide Israel through the wilderness. He went through the plagues of Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, manna in the dessert, miraculous flows of water for the people and animals and the giving of the Ten Commandments. He was with Moses for all these 40 years and through all these miracles. God never failed him. After the death of Moses God spoke directly to Joshua, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage, do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9). Think of this and apply it to our life today, God is with us wherever we go. We cannot fail with God being for us. Recorded for us is the epitaph for Joshua, “Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua.” (Joshua 24:31). Joshua did not believe in failure and his success carried on after he died.
Jesus had been by the side of God for eternity. He daily saw God guide and direct the affairs of the world. Yet, sin had entered with Adam and Eve and something needed to be done about it or the world would be a failure. Failure was not an option or the plan of God for all mankind would fail. Jesus came to earth on a no fail mission. On His last night of human life, He was distraught, He knew He could not fail. Failure was not an option for Jesus. In His deep anguish, He prayed to His (and our) Father, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” (Matt. 26:39). He prayed so earnestly that He dropped big beads of blood as sweat. Failure was not an option and He knew it. Jesus did not believe in failure and His success carried on after He died.
God has given all authority over to Jesus (Matt. 28:18) to help us not to fail. We are so blessed as we lead our lives and even if we “fail” 2,774 times, we have learned 2,774 ways not to fail. Jesus is there to forgive us and help us on toward the mark of His kingdom. God, who is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (II Pet. 3:9) is standing by and willing to help us wherever we are. He is on our side, “Failure is not an option.”
