Success & Failure

Don't you want to be a successful person? We often strive for success and excellence in the things we do, whether these success are our education, our work, our hobbies, our relationships, our friendship, our Sunday School class, our relationship with God etc...

Rightly so! What is the point of doing things if we do not do anything but the best in all that we do? After all, even non Christian have the saying that goes 'we only live once...' Well technically, I guess Christians live more than once but let's focus on our current lives we have control of. Let’s focus on the present. Let’s focus on the really important stuff. Do our lives reflect nothing but success and excellence when we evaluate our relationship God?

Ironically, I really wish I am able to say yes but I will be lying if I call my relationship with God a complete success. God intends for our relationships with Him to be fully vibrant but I often find myself falling into sins and giving in to temptations that often hurt and discourage me. After realizing what I've chose to do from that temptation and test, I felt regrets and frustrations that I feel as if I wish I don’t have to get myself back up. Have you felt like that from time to time? Falling down and can't picking yourself back up?

I admire Michael Jordan, one of the best basketball players in history. Although we may consider him true baller, he still said in one of his quotes: "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

Sir Winston Churchill, a Prime Minister of UK who had to face one of the worst wars in history, said the following quote to describe what success is. He said: "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."

In our eyes, Michael Jordan and Sir Winston Churchill may perhaps be one of the most qualifying persons who had successfully fulfilled their roles in the things they were assigned to. But even they admitted they had failed so many times. How humbling is that? Even the best has flaws. Then I realize that the biggest difference between myself and them is the attitude towards failures.

God is great to us and He wants nothing but the best for us. God has even comforted us by providing us 1 Corinthians 10:13 to stand under whenever we’re tempted: No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Great... that's wonderful news to know and a couple of weeks ago, I was finally able to figure out why I effortlessly fall into temptation: it was the fact that I'm always hesitant into getting in action. I realize that I'm just too sluggish in all the things I do and even during times of temptation; I was sluggish to look ‘for the way out’ and before I know it, bam, it’s too late. So I've been more conscious to ensure that I act more and hesitate less. (Still learning, as you can see, my blog submission is late.)

But this hesitation and sluggishness leads to my fall as well. I passionately hate it when I fall. (So, yes Ian, I pick on myself pretty darn often.) But I was also comforted last night as one of my friend during our discussion in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) mentioned the following verse from the Bible 2 Corinthians 12:9: But [the Lord] said to [Paul], "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

In Kung Fu Panda, "There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the "present." May the Lord be with us, in times or our strength and weakness, so that in whatever situations that we are, may we know that God loves us and He is here with us. He wants nothing but the best for us, He wants us to be successful in everything that we do, may we never be discouraged. May we always pick ourselves back up when we fall because we know that God is able to use our entire life, our success and failure, to glorify Him! Amen!