Coping with Failure – Vicar’s comment

I wonder how you cope with failure??

My feeling is that in this country we don’t deal with it very well (although I don’t know enough about other cultures to compare).

It feels to me like times of failure are so often dealt with by acting as if they haven’t really happened and just moving on to the next thing, or by blaming other people or other things.

The honest admission by someone that they totally fell short of what was needed feels so few and far between.

Jesus’ first disciples didn’t always get it right; sometimes they failed, and spectacularly.

Think of Simon Peter. Even before he denied his Master, Jesus knew what was coming – and yet Jesus prayed for him in advance: ‘Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back , strengthen your brothers.’ Luke 22:31-32 (NIV).

With Jesus, our failures are nothing to fear.

He knew our weaknesses when we first came to Him.

Of course, our failures are certainly not to be celebrated either, but when we know God’s grace and love we don’t need to pretend or blame others when we mess things up.

Yours in Jesus,
Chris Collins

This entry was posted in Vicar's Comment. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *