Proverbs 1:20 Wisdom shouts in the street, she lifts her voice in the square. NASB
No one sets out in life to fail. No one puts failure on their bucket list. No one wants to be known as a failure. Yet a certain amount of failure is inevitable. Failure is not who we are, but merely an unfortunate situation through which we must walk; it is a circumstance, not an identity. We can choose to make set backs and mistakes a mere stepping stone to a successful and prosperous future.
Thomas Edison was said to have failed at least 1000 times before success was realized in the invention of the light bulb. He did not consider the many setbacks as failures, but rather, each failed attempt took him one step closer to a solution. He grew in knowledge with each set back, and the wisdom he gained in the process led him to success.
What if Lucille Ball would have quit after being dismissed from drama school for being too shy? What if the Beetles would have given up after the Deca recording studio turned them down because they said guitar music was on the way out? What if Walt Disney would have taken the criticism of a newspaper company to heart when they fired him for having no imagination and no original ideas? What if Michael Jordan had thrown in the towel and pursued other interests when he was cut from the high school basketball team? What if Paul Young, the author of the best seller, The Shack, gave up after his book was refused by 26 different publishing companies?
Not one of these people gave up after initial failed attempts. Just because we make mistakes, perhaps we have even failed a time or two, that does not need to be the final epitaph engraved upon our gravestone. Rather, it merely means we have learned what did not work. That takes us one step closer to our inevitable end, success.
Mistakes must not hold us back. Rather, we can choose to use the information we have learned to catapult us into our expected future. We can choose to use the wisdom we have gained to move us toward success. We can choose to learn, even from our mistakes. Failure is only failure if we choose to quit.
Don't make that choice, do not give up. Don't quit. Take the wisdom and the knowledge you have gained from your mistakes and keep moving forward. If it is something God has placed in your heart, then success is inevitable, that is, unless you throw in the towel.
Wise counsel is like honey on the bread of life. Wisdom is sweeter than the words of the crowd. In all that you do, seek wisdom. Solomon said, the principal thing is wisdom. What is wisdom? Wisdom is the art of being successful in life.
Using knowledge and understanding to make wise judgements, and then acting upon that wisdom to create a plan for life, we can reach the desired goal. We can complete our course, we can finish the race, we can hear, "Well done my good and faithful servant."
