Author J.K. Rowling had one of her first drafts for a book rejected by 12 different publishers. Thomas Edison attempted to build one of his inventions for years with 1000 unsuccessful tries. The reason the world still remembers these people is not due to their failure or rejections, but because they never gave up. For many of us, our lives can feel like a long, tough journey with lots of trials, many of them ending in failure. But rather than looking at failure as something that cripples us and that should be avoided at all times, we should instead view failure as an opportunity for more success, more growth, more learning and more experiences. In failure, we have an opportunity to stand back up. We have the chance to acknowledge we’ve failed, brush off our shoulders and try again in search of something even greater.

One of my favorite verses of the Bible ever comes from James 1:2-4, where St. James says “Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” He says our trials, our failures, our sufferings should be endured joyfully, because it produces patience, endurance and stronger faith.

The word ‘fail’ means “to fall short of success or achievement in something expected, attempted, desired, or approved”. Using this simple definition, we must admit we all fail. St. John says, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 Jn. 1:8). Since everyone fails, we shouldn’t be afraid to fail. As a matter of fact, we should realize we’ll make mistakes and seek to learn from them, rather than cowering from the fear of failure.

The fear of failure is the reason many people fail. Some don’t try at all, and some only halfheartedly try, because they’re afraid to fail. The thinking is, “If I don’t try, I won’t fail; therefore, I’ll succeed.” In the parable of the talents, the one talent man had this attitude. He was afraid to try, so he hid his talent in the ground, expecting his master to accept his excuses. But when his master returned, he was punished as a lazy and wicked slave (Matt. 25:18, 24-29). If we allow ourselves to be paralyzed by fear, we guarantee failure in the form of eternal damnation. But if we rise above fear and obey God, serving Him to the best of our ability by risking failure to gain success, the Lord will mercifully grant us a home in heaven.

Matthew 26:56 says, “All the disciples deserted Jesus and fled”.  One of the main reasons the confidence of the disciples was so shaken was their sense of failure for having deserted Jesus. Plus, their belief that the ministry of Jesus was dead. Jesus was supposed to be the Messiah, but then he died. I’m sure they were asking, “Why me? Who cares? What now?” The antidote to failure is perseverance. You overcome failure when you admit it to God and keep doing what God has called you to do regardless of setbacks. The Bible reminds us that God specializes in using failures. The fact is, just three days after Jesus was crucified and the disciples thought their lives were in the tank, Jesus rose from the dead. God specializes in lost causes and failures. If we look throughout the Bible, we have several examples of failures whom God raised high and granted success. Be it Joseph who was sold by his brothers, Peter who denied Jesus to become the first Pope or Saul who persecuted the early Christians yet was used by the Lord to proclaim his message to Gentiles.

The Bible says in Proverbs 24:16, “Even if good people fall seven times, they will get back up. But when trouble strikes the wicked, that’s the end of them”. “Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again: for forgiveness has risen from the grave!”  St. John Chrysostom

Are you ready to get back up?