I read the post of a young man who considered himself only mediocre because no matter how hard he tried, he finally came to the conclusion that he would never be a top athlete in his sport. He did not make a living in this sport, but only practiced it in his free time, albeit, intensely – or so it seems from his post. My heart broke as he poured out his heart, a heart broken and feeling worthless and anxious because his worth was tied up in his ability as he compared himself to others. How many times do we feel like we have failed because our dreams have not come to fruition? Maybe it’s because our dreams are not God’s dreams for our lives. But we must also remember that failure is a part of living. No one, I mean no one, is successful 100% of the time.
Biblical People Who Failed
The Bible is full of people who considered themselves, or others considered them failures. Let’s just focus on two here, Joseph and Moses.
Joseph is an interesting failure as he did not consider himself to have failed in anything when it came to his family. In fact, he had a very healthy self-esteem. So much so, that when God gave him visions of his parents and his brothers bowing down to him, he bragged to his family about them. He definitely didn’t think this through and ask God what to do with these visions. Oops. Therefore, out of the blue to Joseph, his brothers wanted to kill him, but instead just sold him into slavery. If that wasn’t enough, he then was put in jail because his master’s wife unjustly called foul play because he wouldn’t sleep with her. So basically, Joseph is a jailbird with a gift for interpreting dreams – a little parlor trick to pass the time in jail.
Then there is Moses who has an identity crisis. Here is this beautiful Egyptian baby who is adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter and brought up in the Pharaoh’s household alongside his other sons. He’s not quite a legitimate son, but is considered part of the family. Then Moses decides that he is an Israelite, and must protect his people by killing a guard who is abusing one of his fellow countrymen. There was a witness to the killing who tells Pharaoh so Moses flees the country and becomes a lowly shepherd for 40 years!
God has a Purpose
Even though Joseph was in prison and Moses was in Never-Never Land surrounded by sheep, God knew where they were and He knew His purpose for their lives. Both men became successful leaders and fulfilled God’s purpose. It’s easy for us now to see how God worked in their lives from beginning to end, and why they had to go through suffering and tough times. We can see how God brought all the pieces of the puzzles of their lives together for His glory and for the protection of His people.
However, I’m sure Joseph and Moses did not see the big picture while they were living in jail and in pastures. The important thing is that both ended up learning God-lessons along the way, and submitting to God’s will when He called them. Albeit, Moses wasn’t the most willing; but how would we react if we had committed a crime, ran from the authorities, were in a dead-end job for forty years, and then God says, come on, you’re going to lead my people! Yeah, I think we would show some hesitation and have a slew of questions.
In the Middle of the Story
When we open a book up in the middle and start reading we are confused because we don’t know how the story began and we don’t even have an inkling as to how it is going to end. For all of us, we are in the middle of our stories. We know our perspective as to how our stories began, but we don’t necessarily understand how those pieces fit into our lives and how they will be used in the future. For many, this causes anxiety and a sense of failure. King David knew this, but he also knew who to trust with his life. He said, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever (Psalm 73:26).” Knowing that God has a plan for our lives and He is our strength gives us a calmness that unbelievers just don’t know.
I think Joseph trusted in God’s plan for his life even when things went south, because after he interpreted the cupbearer’s dream, he told him, please don’t forget about me. When you have the chance, speak to the king about me. Joseph didn’t forget the visions God gave him. Perhaps God gave those visions to Joseph so that they would give him a hope, a hope he needed in prison so he wouldn’t think of himself as a failure.
In the Midst of the Storm
We tend to think we are failures most when life is tough and unfair, like when we lose a job through no fault of our own, or we find ourselves alone after a sudden death of a loved one. Sometimes we cry, we pray, we try our hardest, and nothing positive happens. Again, David knew how this felt. He was anointed to be the next king of Israel. Only one small problem, the present king was trying to kill him. David was intimate with stress, and yet he always went to God for assurance, mercy and compassion. He writes,
Do not withhold your mercy from me, LORD;
may your love and faithfulness always protect me.
For troubles without number surround me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails within me.
Be pleased to save me, LORD;
come quickly, LORD, to help me. Psalm 40:11-13
God never let David down, and He won’t let us down either. “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail (Lamentations 3:22).” When we are feeling frail, like a failure and anxious, we need to get on our knees and be hugged by the one true God who is in control of our lives and knows the ending of our stories.
In the meantime, we can count our blessings that God has given us over our lifetimes and see how He has protected us and cared for us. In this way, we can start to see God’s view of our lives as we are living in the middle of them.
