Am I a failure? It is a deep question to ask oneself. What is your answer to that question? Hopefully, it is a resounding “No.”

As defined by Random House Dictionary, failure is “the act or an instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success.”

By that, I get the impression that anyone who walks alone, walking without God, is essentially a failure. We all want to succeed. But our impatience comes in and tells us “stop waiting.” People are, by nature, impatient beings who are unwilling to wait for someone else when we can simply get it done now. But therein comes our pride. 

Galatians 5:22 (NKJV) states, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.”

Ecclesiastes 7:8 (NKJV) states, “The end of a thing is better than its beginning; the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”

Longsuffering is simply patience. And when we are not patient, we tend to become proud of our results. Yet, the Word clearly states for us to be patient, and to “wait upon the Lord.” And much is said against pride as well. Not that we cannot be proud. But we should not be proud of our own dealings. Instead, be proud of our children, of our neighbors, of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Be proud of what our heavenly Father has provided for us through His love and eternal graciousness. 

Proverbs 11:2 (NKJV) states, “When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.”

I guess thinking about the starting question is much more than just whether we succeed or fail. Instead, we are pulled into needing to look at not how we may have failed, but that we have sinned against God by not trusting Him and His plan. His plan is ultimately the best. But we need to have the patience to wait for His timing of His plan. By waiting upon Him, we avoid our failure through pride, through shame, through our impatience.

Proverbs 16:16 (NKJV) states, “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Haughty is defined as “disdainfully proud, or arrogant.” 

So, being proud at any level for ourselves and not others is clearly a bad thing. Many people tend to become proud of the wrong things when we succeed. So, for many, our successes may be our actual failures. 

So, are we actually failing?

In life, if we give it our best, and trust in the Lord for His will to be done, then no matter what the results of our efforts, we are not failing. Our failures come only when we forget, or fail, to acknowledge that our heavenly Father is the one to be praised and honored for everything we do with Him. 

He provides, He heals, He protects, He listens, He defeats the enemies, He conquers the world. 

So, it does not matter if we fail or succeed in this world. So long as we are walking according to the will of our heavenly Father, then we are never failures. I think of a verse we all may know well…

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31 (NKJV)

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