Ever feel like a failure?

Yes I have. I can't count how many times I've felt that I've failed. It's one of those things that is common to man. We all know, we've all been there.

I recently had an experience that made me feel like I'd shipwrecked. I let myself and others down. It's been on my mind--eating at me and washing away memories of successes. I ask myself, "Why does this happen? I'm mature in age and in my Christian walk, yet I allow these "negative" life experiences to get me down. I ought to know better than to wallow in guilt and self-doubt. They benefit no one."

In truth failing's not all bad--in fact we should desire it. What!? Did I really say that? Yep. Goofing up provides opportunity to learn. We need to allow the fertile soil of failure to grow us. Some of my best lessons have come from my greatest disappointments. Course there are those failures I continue to battle and probably will until I step into eternity. If I let them rule my life, they may destroy the good work God has in mind for me. So, I try not to dwell.

The enemy can have a hayday with our missteps. That is if we allow him to reign in our lives. We can get focused on whatever it is that we did wrong or whatever didn't measure up to our expectations. We get stuck and sometimes become too afraid to do anything and end up parking ourselves in a comfort zone that produces no fruit.

What might we do differently? How about if we ask God what he wants us to gain from the experience? Look at Him instead of the stumble we've taken. He has so much to teach; all He needs is for us to be teachable.

The world of writing is all about mistakes. Writing is rewriting. My days are filled with repairing my work and hoping I can brng it to a place where it shines. I can look at each rewrite as if its a failure or I can see it as one step closer to success. I'll take success, thank you.

I don't mean to belittle our blunders--some of them are biggies with lasting consequences. But allowing failure to derail us could mean a life wasted. That's a tragedy.

It's not easy to get back on that "horse" that dumped us, but what is our alternative? The "I'm stupid, no good at anything" junk we tell ourselves gangs up on us and brings a smile to the lips of our enemy.

So . . . what I want you to know is that failure is momentary and human. Even the worst of our failures need not stop us. Let's encourage each other to move forward--afraid yet courageous. God wants us to trust Him. And He offers us the gift of His love, which never falls short of expectations and covers all our blunders.

We're not alone. God sees it all--the mother who didn't do it right every time, the doctor who missed a diagnosis, or the attorney who couldn't see the pitfalls of a case. No matter what it is we think we've done that can't be repaired, God sees it and His grace covers it all.

We're more than our performances--we're God's creation. And His plans are bigger than our failures.