I Blew It!Sýnishorn

Day 1: “How Does God View Failure?”

Hello and welcome to the I Blew It! plan! I hope that over the course of the next 7 days, you gain a new or deeper understanding of failure, how God views it, and how to respond to failure in life. To start off, we’re going to take a look at how God views failure.

My name is Brian Dollar, and I recently passed the 30-year mark of being in vocational ministry. Often, people look at someone who has been in ministry and enjoyed some “success” as someone who is unique and special. The truth is, I have made MANY mistakes in my 30 years of ministry. BIG ONES! Some of them were leadership errors, others were just dumb decisions I made without consulting anyone—and they cost me dearly.

But it was in those moments of failure that I learned some of my BIGGEST lessons.

The truth is . . . failure is inevitable. If you're working with people, you just can't avoid it. We will make mistakes constantly. But we can learn how to manage those mistakes and work to minimize the impact of those mistakes.

It's crucial that we approach moments of failure with humility and a readiness to learn. Failure is simply one step in the journey of God’s vision for our lives and our community. It's an opportunity for us to lean into faith, to refine our methods, our communication, and our understanding.

Throughout the Bible, we see innumerable failures—of all different types. David failed to stay focused on the war effort and fell into adultery. Abraham failed to remain patient for God's promise to come to pass. But one of my favorite biblical stories of failure is Simon Peter.

Peter was so certain he would remain by Jesus' side when the pressure came, but he failed to do so. Not once, not twice, but three times (John 18)!

Jesus foretold this occurring in Luke 22 — and this is where we get valuable insight into how God views failure. Before Jesus tells Peter of his denials, He informs Peter that "Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat” (Luke 22:31, NIV). But He informs Peter that his faith will not fail and to strengthen his brothers once he has turned his back.

Instead of speaking down to Peter, making him feel ashamed of his failure(s), Jesus wanted him to use the situation to help others. Despite Peter failing and denying the name of Jesus Christ, he went on to be a massive part of the early church and was an instrumental part of the spreading of the good news of Jesus Christ's sacrifice.

What failures have inhibited you from all that God has planned for you?

Failure is going to happen. Failure is inevitable. But, failure doesn’t have to be FINAL! It doesn’t have to knock you out. You have to learn how to respond properly to failure and LEARN from it.