I remember the first time I failed a test. I was in seventh grade at Union-Whitten schools, a small consolidated district in rural Hardin County, Iowa. I’m not sure of the subject, English I think, but I remember the classroom. It was the first door down the stairs and to the right, across from the art room alcove where Trevor McFarland decked me for getting all A’s on a previous report card. It was a small, dark room that got smaller and darker as I stared at the giant red ‘F’ at the top of my paper. That bright scarlet letter was mine, not someone else’s spied with haughty contempt across the aisle between desks. I was not used to seeing that particular member of the alphabet family scribbled across my tests. It disoriented me. I became short of breath. I couldn’t see straight. I cried. I left the room and boohooed. My teacher and classmates chased me down, tried to comfort me. I was inconsolable. I had failed. I would never amount to anything.
I got over it. I redoubled my efforts in that subject and in every other. I wasn’t going to be defeated by such a little setback. I determined the next day to go on, to do everything I could to banish the sixth of the twenty-six from my work. From that day on, I worked harder than I’d ever worked before and it paid off. I was not a failure. I’d show everyone. Okay, not Trevor. I wasn’t stupid, just naïve. I only showed him my report card once. The progress report I earned for that nine weeks would’ve earned me a nasty punch in the face if I hadn’t grown in wisdom.
You’ve all experienced something similar haven’t you? You’ve had a setback or two that led to growth. You lost money on a shaky investment and learned financial savvy. You didn’t make the varsity squad and practiced tirelessly until you were an indispensible part of the starting lineup. You survived a heart attack or a bout with cancer and got more serious about living for God. You were fired and went back to school to gain new skills before securing an even better job.
Has anyone who’s lived not failed forward at least once or twice?
Most of us don’t stay stuck when the muck of life slows us down. We get out of the mud hole and go on stronger for the experience. But some get caught and can’t get free. There are people whose hearts are still despairing over things that happened a decade or two ago. There are people who’ve been knocked back on their seat time and time again. Everything that could have gone wrong in their life has. Lost their job. Lost their marriage. Lost their dad. Lost their money. Lost their health. Lost their dog. They have lost or are about to lose their sanity and their faith. And they don’t live only in New Jersey – inside joke. They live in Argonia, Kansas. They live where you live. Maybe “they” are you.
Whether you’ve fallen and can’t get up or you’re the bounce back kid, I have good news for you today. God is with you in the pit. He has not abandoned you. He is at work right now to set things aright. He has “plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV)
Trust him and keep going. He will see you through.
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