How do you respond to failure?
Does it crush your spirit or lead to frustration? Do you avoid it or point fingers?
What is one response to failure? Is there a quality that enables us to get up and get after it? I believe so.
One word: Resilience.
In other words, failure presents opportunities to be resilient, and resilience is rooted in trusting God.
What do I mean?
In my junior year of football, I played fullback. I fumbled one too many times and risked losing my position. I was finally benched after fumbling the ball again—now a failed fullback. I vividly remember looking down at the grass as I was on a knee and thinking about quitting. In the face of failure, I was discouraged. I couldn’t imagine any other options and was on the verge of throwing in the towel. Have you been there?
Fortunately, I pushed through that failure and, in the process, was moved to middle linebacker, where I ultimately found success.
It was resilience that moved me from one failure to an opportunity. In hindsight, that failure and pressing on to success was a milestone in teaching me about resilience. I was learning to trust that God had a better plan for me, even in the face of failure. I have seen that resilience is more than not quitting. It isn’t just bouncing back from a football position change. It’s rooted in a deep trust in God that enables us to push through and persevere in difficult times at work, overcoming personal struggles, and rebuilding our lives after hard seasons.
Resilience has a springy quality. And when it’s rooted in trust in God, it directs us throughout our lives. Scripture teaches us this principle. The apostle Paul helps us understand this in Philippians 3 when he says, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Thus, Christians, above all, have every reason to be resilient. How so?
Jesus Christ offered His life on the cross as a sacrifice for sin, died, and was buried, but He didn’t stay down. He didn’t stay in the grave. He rose from the grave, demonstrating that sin and death have no hold on Him.
If Christ can conquer the grave, He can give us the strength to bounce back from anything we face.
Are you facing a difficult situation requiring resilience? Are you struggling and needing to experience the power of God’s promises? Trust God. Walk in the light of the gospel…arise and find your strength in Christ. He is with you.
“For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again,
But the wicked stumble in time of calamity.”
Proverbs 24:16