MILTON MONDAY: SUCCEEDING THROUGH FAILURE

Succeeding Through Failure
By Milton Dykes

It may sound impossible, but you can succeed even through failure. There is something that can be learned from every setback that can help move you closer to your goal. No sane person begins the day with the idea of making a mess of the opportunity the day offers, but the fact is, each of us is inevitably going to face detours, delays, and disappointments. Your dreams and visions may appear to be shattered, but you can rise up through the failure to move to the higher plan and purpose of God.

Thomas Edison, the great inventor, said, “I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another set forward.” The great General George S. Patton noted, “The test of success is not what you do when you are on top. Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.” You can rise above the setbacks of life and move forward to new opportunities before you, if you choose to do it. Choosing to try again with God's help is the secret to succeeding through failure.

Life’s disappointments can be like a shell that restricts life. Alfred Lord Tennyson put it this way: “The shell must break before the bird can fly.” We can allow our destinies to be held back by the hard layers of failure that can build up. All of us are going to fail sometime, but we must be determined to break the shell of doubt and despair that can restrict us from sowing new seeds of opportunity.

Let me encourage you to be determined in the face of failure and try again. Did you know that Walt Disney declared bankruptcy five times before he succeeded? Did you know that Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player to ever play the game, was cut from his high school basketball team? Did you know that John Grisham, who has more than 80 million books in print worldwide, was turned down by 35 publishers before getting published? Charles Swindoll said, “The person who succeeds is not the one who holds back, fearing failure, nor the one who never fails, but rather the one who moves on in spite of failure."

The difference between people who succeed and people who fail? Successful people get over their setbacks and transcend their limitations. From a biblical standpoint, we have the promise of God that He will help us succeed in spite of our shortcomings. God has a plan and path that leads to victory if we will trust Him during our disappointing failures. Samson failed. David failed. Simon Peter failed. John Mark failed, and on the list goes. Yet God was merciful to all of them and moved them from their failings to great success. This can happen for you too!