Failure Is Not FatalSýnishorn

Wisdom to See

In this next three-part series we will take a look at failure—another of the things in life that can break us. Here we will look at three lessons to be learned when we fail. We will learn about wisdom in failure, faith in failure, and grace in failure. Now, of all of the characters in the Bible who failed, Peter has to rank at the top of the list. There are numerous times that Peter not only failed but failed spectacularly and it is through his failures that we will learn these valuable lessons. 

Let’s talk about wisdom for a moment. James says that if any lacks wisdom they are to ask God for it and He will provide it generously. Wisdom is defined as the ability to apply knowledge to experience, or as Charles Spurgeon said, “Wisdom is the right use of knowledge.” When we ask God for wisdom, we are asking Him to show us how to apply what we know to what is happening. Every failure God allows in our lives contains a message from Him – the wisdom to apply what we know to our situation. Let’s now look at Peter’s first failure with wisdom.

The historian, Luke, shares this story of Peter and his fellow fisherman washing their nets by the Sea of Galilee after a hard night of fishing, failing to catch a single fish. Jesus tells him to cast out his nets into the deep water at midday, the worst time of the day to catch fish. Peter’s pride is seen in his response to Jesus' command, when he tells Jesus that they have toiled all night (the best time to fish) and failed. Now to try to fish at the worst possible time is certain failure. Yet, Peter follows Jesus' command. 

With the huge catch of fish that follows Peter’s obedience to Christ’s command we see two examples of wisdom; first, Peter recognizes who Jesus is—Someone greater than himself. This is knowledge.  Then he applies it when he tells Jesus that he is a sinful man. Peter now becomes humble and this is a character trait Jesus can use. So, when Jesus invites Peter to follow Him, Peter leaves his nets and accepts the invitation—wisdom in action. 

It’s been said that failure is an event, never a person. The lesson learned is that wisdom is seeing Christ in the midst of my failures. 

To get more from this plan, listen to Strong at the Broken Places podcast series and download the Free Study Guide at gsot.edu/strong.