No one wants to fail. It feels terrible especially if we have worked hard at something. When we fail, we feel we “lose face” before people and begin to feel inadequate about ourselves. It can lead to a vortex of negative thoughts that sink us.
God doesn’t fail, right? So does He understand what we experience? What does He say about failure through the Bible?
The Bible says, “Victory rests with the Lord” (Proverbs 21:31) When the children of Israel went to battle against their enemies God told them to remember this: “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory” (Deuteronomy 20:3-4). It’s God who leads us to the battle, God who fights for us and God who ensures the win.
Further, Jesus, God in flesh (John 1:14), lived in the world as a human. He knew the sort of battles we would face on a day-to-day basis (Hebrews 4:15). He understands and says, “in this world you will have trouble.” But He also assures us saying, “But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Victory is always God’s. It is He who grants it to us (Romans 8:37; 1 Corinthians 14:56). If we remember this, when we do succeed, we will not boast as if it was by our own accomplishments but be grateful to and give the glory to God (Deuteronomy 8:10-18; 1 Corinthians 4:7).
So, can God’s people ever fail?
Yes! When we don’t follow God’s instructions, our plans may be frustrated (Joshua 2:10-12; Jonah 1). But even those failures, God can use to teach and discipline us just as He did with Joshua and Jonah. When we realize we’re going in the wrong way, may we quickly course correct and follow God again. When we do, He is faithful in taking us back and restoring us (1 John 1:9-10; Jeremiah 15:19)
However, even when we do follow God’s plans to the dot, we may not experience success the way the world defines it. But the Bible doesn’t call that failure. It refers to those challenges we experience when we follow God as persecution, suffering or trials. God uses them too to prune us and help us grow (John 15:2; James 1:2-4).
If God is in control of our struggles, we need not fear them (2 Timothy 1:7-8) because we know that God has our best interests at heart (Romans 8:28). Rather, through it all – success and failure, celebration and suffering – we can trust that our Shepherd knows what He is doing (John 10:27-29).
Here are a few articles to help you reflect on this theme a little more:
We Can Trust Our Shepherd
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