When babies are learning to walk, they fall and stumble often, but eventually, they learn to walk like pros. Life is kind of like learning to walk. In life, failing is inevitable, but if we don't get back up, we will never reach our goals. Failure is simply how we learn. Chances are, you don't get something right the very first time you try, and if you do - you are in the minority.
Learning to welcome failure is something I'm still working on, but it is one of the most freeing and enriching feelings. As a Christian, I sometimes question why God allows me to fail when He supposedly only wants good things for me. But then I turn to the Bible and look at people like Jonah who literally ran away from God when asked to do something or Peter who denied Jesus when he said he never would, and I remember that even they failed before they got it right.
One big reason I think failure hurts so much is because as humans, we are creatures of pride, and that is hard to overcome. Even some of the most humble people have a sense of pride that they try to protect in some way. When we mess up, we often feel vulnerable and exposed, at least that is the case for me. I don't know about you, but I prefer not to feel vulnerable or exposed. I prefer to stay in the bounds of my own comfort zone and avoid failure at all costs, but unfortunately, that's not where growth happens.
In the spirit of vulnerability, I've had many moments of "failure" that I can confidently say have molded me into the stronger person that I am today. When I entered college, I joined a sorority and succumbed to the pressure of going to parties. As a result, my grades reflected my poor choices, and my spiritual health did as well. I was placed on academic probation, which was a BIG fail in my book. Because of this, I turned things around very quickly. I pulled my GPA up leaps and bounds and began to focus on my relationship with Christ. Now I can proudly say I am a graduate of Clemson University, in my second semester of grad school at the College of Charleston, and my relationship with Christ is stronger than it has been at any other point in my life.
That, my friends, is a result of failure. This failure is something that I truly believe God had me to experience so that I could experience the abundant life that I have today. Now, when I question why God allows me to fail when he only wants good things for us, I look back on my own life and have the answer. My freshman year wasn't the first time I failed, and I'm sure it won't be the last. This might sound a bit odd, but I'm excited for the lesson the Lord has for me in my next failure because I know it will be beautiful.
