Success Through Failure

The great New York Yankee Hall-of-Famer Mickey Mantle once told a story about a game in which he struck out three times in a row. He says, “When I got back to the clubhouse, I just sat down on my stool and held my head in my hands, like I was going to start crying. I heard somebody come up to me, and it was little Timmy Berra, Yogi’s boy, standing there next to me. He tapped me on the knee, nice and soft, and I figured he was going to say something nice to me – you know, like, ‘Hang in there,’ or something like that. But all he did was look at me, and then he said in his little kid’s voice, ‘You stink!’”

Out of the mouths of babes . . . that’s not the kind of encouragement you hope for at a moment like that, is it? The disciples of Jesus felt as if they had struck out. Even though the risen Christ had appeared to them, the apostles were ready to quit this disciple gig. Even if Christ were alive, how could he ever count on them again? They had failed him just when he needed them the most. It was not that they doubted Christ. It was that they doubted themselves.

Have you ever let someone else down? Have you dreaded seeing them afterward – not because they had done you wrong, but because you had failed them? So you try to avoid them. And so the disciples – seven of them at least – decide to take a timeout . . . a timeout at the Sea of Tiberias. And they returned to their original occupation: fishing. Those disciples went back home to Galilee. There they were then, back where it all began, by the sea.

Peter seemingly had failed in the work Jesus called him to do, be a fisher of men. Now it made sense for him to go back to what he knew best and that was fishing for fish.

I don’t know about you, but I understand Peter’s thoughts and actions. I understand that sometimes when you’re unsure, the default reaction is to go to what you already know rather than simply trusting God. Apparently, the others were thinking the same thing, for as soon as Peter said, “I’m going fishing,” they all agreed.

So they went fishing . . . and that night they caught absolutely nothing. These expert fishermen went all night without a catch. Maybe the Lord was telling them something. No matter how good you are at something or how much you think it is for you, if that is not God’s will for your life, it will not prosper and you will find yourself toiling and toiling and nothing will be working. Let it go . . . and seek to find out God’s real purpose for you.

The disciples caught nothing for the entire night. But morning came. And Jesus showed up, just like he had, behind closed doors, on Easter Even. But they didn’t recognize him; perhaps because of the distance or the lack of light. Sometimes we too fail to see that Jesus is right there in the midst of our failures. He’s right there when all our efforts come to naught. And it might be that we are so caught up in the failure that it keeps us from seeing him.

But could it be that failure is a necessary part of a believer’s spiritual growth?

Ask anybody who’s ever accomplished anything significant where they learned their greatest lessons. Most folks will say it was not from their successes, but from their defeats.

So, you taught a Sunday school class and it didn’t grow like you hoped it would. You invited a few friends to church and none of them showed up. You prayed and prayed for a miracle in your life and so far you can’t tell anything is happening.

Can you feel Jesus putting his hand on your shoulder and telling you to stay focused and faithful and not give up? Life is not about going from victory to victory. Life is about learning and growing as the Holy Spirit works in our life. Failure is simply part of the process.

This is not to say that failure doesn’t hurt. Of course it hurts. And the greater the crown you’re seeking, the more it hurts when you fail. Peter wept bitterly after the cock crowed and he remembered Christ’s words that he would deny him three times. Failure always hurts.

But do you think Peter could have been as effective in his witness if he had not experienced the grace of God after he had denied Jesus? He wept when it happened, but he didn’t stay frozen in his shame. And neither should we.

It doesn’t matter what kind of failure you have experienced in your life: A business failure, the failure of your marriage, even a moral failure – Christ wants to help you redeem that failure, to help you learn from that failure, and to use that failure to grow into the kind of person God created you to be.

Yes, you and I will have failures, but we will never be a failure until we give up.  Sooner or later, everyone fails at something. The question is how will we handle those failures: With fatalism? Or with faith?

In his book, Mastering the Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success, Andy Andrews tells something about our first president, George Washington.

In 1754, as a young major in the Virginia militia, Washington was ordered to lead 350 raw recruits through the wilderness to a fort where the present-day city of Pittsburgh now stands. This fort was occupied by the French. Washington’s militia camped at a spot some forty miles from the French fort and erected a fort of its own named Fort Necessity. When this militia sought to engage the enemy, they encountered seven hundred French soldiers and their Indian allies. They were outnumbered more than two-to-one. Washington and his troops were driven back to Fort Necessity.

Unfortunately the location of the fort made it impossible to defend because it was surrounded by hills that were the perfect hiding place from which the French and Indian fighters could attack. To make it worse, many of Washington’s men got drunk. In nine short hours, with thirty dead, seventy wounded, and many more deserting, the battle was over. Defeated, Washington gave up his sword and signed an article of surrender.

George Washington, the future “father of our country,” lost his first battle, his first fort, and his first command in one fell swoop. As he limped back to Virginia to his beloved Mount Vernon, he made no excuses. But he also did not give up. Instead, he learned from the Native Americans how to conduct warfare suited to the terrain. It made him a better soldier and leader. He learned from his mistakes. Nobody’s a failure until they quit trying.

The more faith you have, the less you worry about failing. How do you get that kind of faith? By failing and finding God’s arms holding you up. By discovering that God’s grace is sufficient for you.

Simon Peter discovered that during this timeout at Tiberias. Do you remember how today’s Gospel ends? The risen Christ and the disciples are seated around a fire – a fire much like the one around which Simon Peter denied Jesus three times. Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?”  And then tells him three times, “Feed my sheep.”

Essentially, Jesus says, “Peter, I know this timeout was because you felt unworthy, that because you denied me three times, you’re not qualified for the ministry to which I called you. But I’m calling you out and commissioning you three times so that you know that I still have need for you to feed my sheep. I have applied my grace to your life and I have forgiven you of your past. I love you, Peter, and I need you just as I did before to fish for people.”

And that is Christ’s message to you and me today, regardless of how many times we have failed in our lives.  Jesus calls us to be instruments of his grace and love. Will you help feed his sheep?