Dream Big with Bob GoffSýnishorn

When you fail epically, you’re not alone. The Bible gives you lots of people to relate to. Take Abraham, for instance. You can read in Genesis how he continually went his own way without consulting God first. Yet God told Abraham that the entire worldwide family of faith would be traced directly through him. David had some pretty epic fails everyone heard about, including adultery and murder. Yet the genealogy of Jesus came through him. He’s even described as a man after God’s own heart. How crazy is that? 

As a culture, we have sent presidents packing and excommunicated pastors for much less. Moses killed a guy, for Pete’s sake, yet God picked him to deliver His words on a stone tablet about how we should live. He then led a nation of people to a promised land. God shows us, over and over again, that our failures don’t disqualify us; they prepare us.

Truthfully, most people are more concerned about others seeing them fail than they are about actually failing. So we all, to some degree, try to act like we’re not failing at all—ever. I have yet to see a social media post showing someone bailing out on a relationship or giving in to a temptation. I haven’t seen one picture of a guy giving up fifty feet from the summit or cheating on a test or losing his temper or getting audited by the IRS or yelling at his kid. 

Our need for validation can mess with our heads. We wonder, are we the only one having big and small failures pockmark our days? Don’t be tricked into thinking you’re the only one having to trudge through difficulties. Failure creates an invitation that faking will always miss. Tear up a ticket or two. It’s okay. On the other side of an epic fail can be equally epic beauty and authenticity, which can only be born out of understanding our desperate need for love, grace, and help.