Failure

No one is immune to failure. Human weakness, ignorance and the effects of sin promise that failure will be a familiar companion, even to people who walk with God. The Bible accepts the idea of failure as a part of life. Solomon observed, “Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again” (Proverbs 24:16). Famous Bible failures who rose again include Moses, Samson, David, Peter, John Mark and Jesus Christ.

In Western culture, success is often judged on the basis of the visible accomplishment of such things as wealth and security, public appearance and notoriety, power and influence, physical beauty and talent. Accordingly, failure is judged on the basis of the lack of these things. Even Christians, reflecting the culture, tend to evaluate persons and work on these cultural grounds. A closer look at Scripture, however, reveals that God’s view of success and failure is quite different.

Neither the Old nor the New Testament uses words that coincide exactly with success or failure as we understand the terms. In the languages of the Bible the words that most nearly approximate the concept of success are ones that mean “blessed.” In Hebrew the word is barak; in Greek the work is makarios. Both convey ideas of success, prosperity, happiness and enviably abundant life.

In the Old Testament the key issue in success, or blessedness, is to live in right relationship with God and to obey his instructions (Deut. 11:26-28; Psalm 1:1; Psalm 5:12). In the New Testament Jesus describes success in terms of personal transformation. The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) indicate that the changed person, not his or her measurable accomplishments, is the key to blessedness. A definition of success quickly emerges by reading the Beatitudes and substituting the word successful for “blessed,” as in “Successful are the poor in spirit.” Success as Jesus defines it has nothing to do with worldly wealth, power or honor. True success is the inner riches of personal character conformed to God’s character. According to the Beatitudes, success is in the riches of inner qualities like vulnerability, brokenness, gentleness, craving for righteousness, compassion, single-mindedness, reconciliation and joy in suffering for Christ’s sake.

In the Old Testament the word that stands opposite “blessed” and most closely approximates “failure” is the word cursed (Deut. 11:26-28). Cursed, as the Bible uses the term, does not represent something magical, such as casting spells or being under a hex. Lawrence Richards interprets the Old Testament word for curse as “the loss or absence of the state of blessing” (1985, p. 208). To fail is to have God’s blessing withdrawn, lose the esteem of God, shrivel up spiritually, become small-souled. Obedience to the commandments of the Lord is the secret of success, and disobedience is the pathway to the withdrawal of God’s blessing, reduced position, reduced power, reduced wealth, reduced honor and a broken relationship with God, which is the substance of failure (Richards, 1985, p. 207). To fail is to exist in a state of separation from God; to try to live without God is to die (Deut. 30:19). The New Testament updates this fundamental concept to include a person’s response to the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. According to Jesus, the ultimate failure is to fail to be recognized as belonging to Christ (Matthew 7:21-23).

Success, Failure and Material Prosperity

The Bible encourages the expectation that if things are right between people and God, material abundance will follow. However, in Deut. 8:12-20 the promise of material blessing is immediately followed by a warning: If, after God has made them rich, his people become proud and think they have won prosperity by their own strength and hard work and if they forget the Lord and give allegiance to other gods, they will be destroyed! This same destiny awaits any nation that refuses to obey the Lord. The link between material prosperity and a relationship with God is unmistakable. But sometimes other issues are at stake.

The biblical portrait of success is often a picture of people surviving amid harassment, poverty, disaster and famine. Merely amassing material wealth and the power that goes with it is not success. Many wealthy, powerful people are in rebellion against God. God declares them of slight value (cursed). Indeed David composed a song against people who “succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes” (Psalm 37:7).

The plutocracy of which David sings did not gain its power because of God’s promises to bless the obedient. The people he describes have climbed to power and wealth on the backs of the oppressed and possess their wealth and power while the righteous have little (Psalm 37:16-17). They flourish “like a green tree in its native soil” (Psalm 37:35), but they have no future (Psalm 37:9-10, 15, 17, 38). The wealthy and powerful will be brought down in full view of the righteous poor whom they have oppressed (Psalm 37:34). The secret of the resilience of the righteous is that they trust God (Psalm 37:3). He is their delight (Psalm 37:4); their way is committed to him (Psalm 37:5); they are waiting for his justice (Psalm 37:6). The righteous are promised a home (Psalm 37:3), security (Psalm 37:3, 27), heart’s desire (Psalm 37:4), justice (Psalm 37:6), peace (Psalm 37:11), protection (Psalm 37:14-15, 28), support (Psalm 37:17, 24), plenty to eat (Psalm 37:19, 25), enough to share with others (Psalm 37:21, 26), blessing-success (Psalm 37:22), confidence (Psalm 37:23), God’s love (Psalm 37:28), deliverance (Psalm 37:33), a future (Psalm 37:37), salvation (Psalm 37:39), a refuge from the wicked (Psalm 37:39-40) and the Lord’s help (Psalm 37:40)—an inventory of success with God in the midst of circumstances that, in the world’s view, constitute failure. Psalm 37 promises spiritual abundance more than material prosperity. Believers are led to expect that basic necessities will be supplied, not that trusting and obeying will lead to a cushy life.

Worldly Success Is Failure Waiting to Be Exposed

In the last book of the Bible a great city called “Babylon the Great” is destroyed by the judgments of God. This Babylon is the symbol of worldly wealth, power and success that, according to the description given in Rev. 18, is measured in terms of profits made from commerce in everything from gold to “the bodies and souls of men” (Rev. 18:13). The destruction of this symbolic Babylon is a picture of “the inevitable judgments of God upon . . . the worship of false gods, which include riches, power and success” (Phillips, p. 516). The world’s success story concludes with God’s disclosure of the ultimate failure of worldly success (Rev. 18:14-24). It is not that it is intrinsically wrong to succeed in commerce or business, but it is a serious mistake to look to these things as true security and prosperity or the source and meaning of life. The real world of commerce and business is a system riddled with injustice and greed, which will finally fall to God’s judgment. Those who have built their lives on it will be left impoverished and broken.

Where Is Prosperity When You’ve Lost Everything?

Success and blessing do not depend on material prosperity; they are found in the joy of knowing God as Savior. In the days of the prophet Habakkuk, the righteous remnant of Judah was overrun by the Babylonian war machine and carried into captivity along with those who deserved God’s wrath. Everything was taken away from them. As Babylonian hordes bore down on Jerusalem, Habakkuk composed a prophetic poem (Habakkuk 3). At first he writes of God’s sovereignty and mighty acts: “Suddenly Habakkuk is shown overwhelming waters of judgment, rushing like some Genesis cataclysm . . . to burst over the prophet and his people” (Richards, 1987, pp. 414-15). He trembles with fear; his knees buckle (Habakkuk 3:15-16). He knows God’s faithful will not escape the bitter disaster coming on their rebellious nation. How will those who trust God find hope and see God’s promise of prosperity when starvation, deprivation and defeat are the orders of the day? Habakkuk knows:

Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights. (Habakkuk 3:17-19)

Because he knew God, Habakkuk experienced spiritual success-blessing even as everything he possessed was swept away in the judgment of the condemned society in which he lived.

The Therapeutic Effects of Failure

For the person who believes God, failure is not fatal. The Bible affirms that failure will come, but when it does, it cannot destroy the believer (see Micah 7:8-9). The grace of God meets us at the point of failure.

Pressure produces sterling character (Romans 5:2-5). The Greek word for suffering means “pressure, distress of mind and circumstances, trial, affliction.” The restoration in us of the likeness (“glory”) of God takes place through a process involving pain and pressure, which produce perseverance, refined character, hope and the experience of God’s love.

Jesus emerges through our struggles (2 Cor. 4:7-18). Normal Christian experience includes reversals, inadequacies and failure. God distills positive results from such experiences: (1) Jesus is seen living in us (2 Cor. 4:10-11); (2) spiritual blessing touches other people through us (2 Cor. 4:15); (3) even though outwardly we fail, our inner self is being thoroughly renovated (2 Cor. 4:16); (4) we learn to see from God’s perspective (2 Cor. 4:17-18).

God’s power is visible in weak people (2 Cor. 12:7-10). The apostle Paul could not get rid of a troublesome personal weakness he called his “thorn.” It undermined his self-confidence and kept him from being the strong leader people expected. Three times he prayed about it. His prayer failed to make any difference. As he nursed his stinging disappointment, he heard God say, “My grace is enough for you. My strength is demonstrated as effective through your weakness” (see 2 Cor. 12:9). It gave him a new perspective on failure. If God could demonstrate his strength through human weakness, Paul, instead of feeling embarrassed, would make his failure a focus of rejoicing and hope.

Difficulties move us toward destiny (Romans 8:28-29). No matter what happens, what we try and fail to accomplish, what opposition we face, what mistakes we make, what weaknesses plague us, what pressure, distress or pain we suffer—all of it has a sign over it that reads “God at work!”

Through failures people move from bragging to brokenness. Peter is one of the world’s most famous failures. Before Jesus was arrested, Peter bragged, “I will lay down my life for you” (John 13:37). He miserably failed. A few hours later, Peter cowardly denied three times that he knew Jesus (Luke 22:54-62). After the resurrection, Jesus met him and asked three times, “Do you love me?” (John 21:15-19). The Greek New Testament reveals that the first two times Jesus used the word for perfect love. But Peter’s swagger was gone. He responded with a word meaning “friendship.” “I would like to be able to boast that my love for you is perfect,” he seemed to say, “but my failure has taught me the truth about myself. The best I can do is tell you that I love you as a dear friend.” Peter could never have been the useful instrument he became had he not gone through his humiliating collapse at the point where he felt strong.

Based on Peter’s experience we can see that failure accomplishes several things. First, failure enables us to more accurately assess ourselves and our situation. Second, failure helps us to see our weaknesses. Third, failure takes the wind out of our spiritual boasting. Fourth, failure provokes us to find answers. Fifth, failure shows us how dependent we are on God and others. Sixth, failure frees us to love genuinely and honestly.

» See also: Ambition

» See also: Blessing

» See also: Drivenness

» See also: Forgiveness

» See also: Success

References and Resources

R. C. Girard, When the Vision Has Vanished (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989); J. B. Phillips, “Introduction to the Book of Revelation,” in The New Testament in Modern English (New York: Macmillan, 1960); L. O. Richards, Complete Bible Handbook (Waco, Tex.: Word, 1987), L. O. Richards, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985).

—Robert C. Girard