Failure: It’s Not About Success

I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.

Earlier this week I saw my dentist and during the examination he pressed his thumb into the side of my neck. Hard. Feel that? Ahhh…yes. That’s the “little ball of hate” and you have to work at diffusing it. He continued, “every day work your hands over this nerve and try to knead out this area and your jaw will feel much better.” Promise.

Working my neck muscles and wearing my bite guard 24/7 appears to be a simple fix. Sounds easy, right? Believe me it’s not.

Though I’m complying with wearing the bite guard all day (every day) and through the night, I’m finding it much more difficult to locate that “little ball of hate” in my neck. I work my fingers all over my neck muscles but I can’t seem to find the trigger point that my dentist had no problem locating.

Identify What Hurts Your Heart

Hmmm…reminds me of the trouble I sometimes have trying to locate (and diffuse) what’s really bothering me on the inside of my heart and mind. Deep inside, I frequently have this “little ball of hate” swirling around and it’s set off by…

Nasty politics. Irresponsible Journalism. Exploitation of women and children. Media Sensationalism. To name just a few.

Do One Small Thing Today

In the same way I fumble around looking for the exact nerve that’s causing me physical pain, I struggle to find a way to diffuse my inner frustration with the larger “ills” of the world. I know I can’t change everything, maybe not even a few things, but I can do one thing (a single small choice every single day) to make a difference. Which is why I keep writing letters, keep making phone calls, and keep giving to organizations that “fight the good fight.” Otherwise, I fail, in my eyes and in God’s eyes.

Whenever God calls me to act and I turn the other way, I fail to act as His hands, His feet, and His voice in this broken world. I look at it this way. There are injustices in this world that I hate, hate, hate. But unless I’m willing to step out and speak up, that “little ball of hate” against injustice isn’t doing me or anyone else any good. I know the RX isn’t sitting around and feeling angry…it’s doing something. Anything .Any. Little. Thing. Makes a difference. (In the world and inside of me.)

Fight One Tiny Battle Daily

The final word isn’t whether or not I’ve fixed the problem. The final word is that I’ve tried. Fail or not, I’ve stepped out in faith and made the attempt. Failure is never about success.

Failure – the word itself conjures up nasty pictures in our mind. We run from failure like we run from the plague. No one wants to fall on their face in humiliation. And yet, if we’re honest, everyone grows stronger, fitter, by the mistakes we make. We watch children fall and get back up again. Fall and get back up again. Sometimes, they fall so many times it takes an adult to call it quits for a time of recovery. One of the reasons I don’t think small children are much daunted by trying and failing is that their little brains haven’t yet connected the cause/effect principle. To kids, risk is still just a word in a dictionary not a painful memory.

We Fail When We Stop Trying

For adults, we’re just the opposite as we’ve experienced far too many moments when embarrassment stole our peace in the most awkward and hurtful settings. Stinging memories of having been shamed or shutdown by those we care about (or whose opinions we value) hinder us from risking failure today. Even when the cause is important, too many of us pull back in hesitation when God says move into the fray. Shame on us.

Since most of life entails risk, why not step out in faith on behalf of those who have no voice? Why not move into a tricky situation with the strength God provides and watch Him work wonders? Why not offer our gifts and talents to those who might reject our kindness? Why not? Success or failure is never the issue. It’s all about obedience even when we’re risking that which we most value.