Failure Is a Beginning, Not an End

One way to strengthen your Christian faith is to keep a proper perspective on failure. The Gospels describe two similar encounters between Jesus and His disciples that illustrate the importance of not giving failure the final word.

The first is found in Luke 5:1–11. To get some distance from the crowd that clamored to hear Him, Jesus boarded Peter’s boat and spoke to His followers a short distance from the shore. When He was done, He instructed Peter, who was a fisherman by trade, to head for deep waters to catch some fish. Peter explained to Jesus that he and his companions had been fishing all night but had failed to catch anything. Still, he obeyed the Lord’s command. And when he let down his nets, he caught so many fish that he could barely get them on board.

The second encounter, found in John 21, takes place after Jesus’ resurrection. The Lord had already appeared to some of the disciples. But He had given them no clear marching orders, so some of them went back to what they knew how to do: fish. They had been fishing all night on the Sea of Galilee and hadn’t caught anything.

It was early in the morning, probably still dark, when they saw a figure standing on the shore. He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?” (verse 5 NLT).

Throughout the Bible, God often asked probing questions when He wanted a confession. In the same way, Jesus was asking His disciples, “Did you catch anything? Have you been successful? Have things gone the way you had hoped they would go? Are you satisfied?”

Jesus knew the answer, of course. So, why did He want them to admit their failure? So that He could bring them to the place where they needed to be.

When they cast the net on the right side of the boat as Jesus told them to, their net became so heavy with fish that they couldn’t pull it in. The Lord was teaching the disciples an important lesson: Failure is often the doorway to real success.

It’s a lesson that believers today need to learn as well. We need to come to a point in our lives where we recognize that what we’re doing isn’t working. We need to say, “Lord, I’m not satisfied with the way my life is going. I’m tired of doing things my way. I want to do things Your way.” If you approach God in that way, He will extend His forgiveness to you. Then He will transform your life in ways you can’t imagine.

If you want to deepen your relationship with the Lord, admit your failures and hand the reins of your life to Him.

Reflection Question: What failure or dissatisfaction would you like the Lord to transform in your life? Discuss this with believers like you on Harvest Discipleship!

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