What the Bible Says About...Failure

We've all been there...when we put our heart into something and it just doesn't seem to "click." Whether it is a class, making the team, or witnessing to a friend, we all experience failure from time to time. Sometimes we even feel like we've failed God. Yet, the Bible talks a little bit about failure, and helps us realize that God is with us all the way through it.

We All Fall Down

Everybody fails from time to time. No one you know is perfect, and almost everyone can outline at least a few failures. God understands and prepares us for it in Proverbs 24:16. We are not perfect, even in our faith, and God wants us to understand and accept that.

Proverbs 24:16 - "Even if good people fall seven times, they will get back up. But when trouble strikes the wicked, that's the end of them." (CEV)

God Lifts Us Back Up

God knows we're going to fail every once in a while. Yet, He also stands by us and helps us get back on our feet. Is it easy to accept failure? No. Can it make us depressed and feel down? Yes. Yet, God is there to help us work through our anger and disappointment.

Psalm 40:2-3 - "and pulled me from a lonely pit full of mud and mire. You let me stand on a rock with my feet firm, and you gave me a new song, a song of praise to you. Many will see this, and they will honor and trust you, the LORD God." (CEV)

God Wants Us to Correct Ourselves

So, God helps us back up, but does that mean we dwell on the failure or repeat the same behaviors? No. God wants us to acknowledge our shortcomings and work to better ourselves. Sometimes that means moving on to something else we can do better. Sometimes it means giving ourselves more practice. Other times it means being patient for things to work themselves out.

Jeremiah 8:4-5 - "The LORD said: People of Jerusalem, when you stumble and fall, you get back up, and if you take a wrong road, you turn around and go back. So why do you refuse to come back to me? Why do you hold so tightly to your false gods?" (CEV)