Did I fail?

It's amazing how many people feel bad about failing at something. We think we have failed ourselves, others, or even God. However we describe it - disappointment, letdown, fiasco, insecurity, insufficient - there always seems to be a standard out there we can't reach. Why is that? Did God set the goal too high? Do we just not try hard enough?

Let's define failure as when reality does not meet expectations. It is particularly distressing if this 'not meeting expectations' causes hurt, discomfort or pain for ourselves or others. In our culture, we spend a lot of energy trying to figure out who's to blaim and some folks end up either carrying around the weight of the guilt themselves, or they carry around anger at others for their short comings.

Most of the time, I find the expectations are too high. We have to first look to see if we are aiming for a target that can actually be hit. Expectations that are too low are usually caused by fear of failure - so we still need to look for appropriate standards.

But Jesus died on the cross so we could have forgiveness for sins. There is no glory in carrying around the sin of guilt, shame, and anger. All we have to do is to ask Him to forgive us and ask Him to help us not do that sin again. Which He will do - over and over.

But in reality, the bottom line is this: if we are walking with Jesus as best we can, He helps us do what He has asked us to do. There is no failure. It may not look like you thought it might, but if God is in charge, how can we fail? He knows our capabilities, our likes, our knowledge and he would not ask us to do something we could not do! The reality then fits God's expectations and it's not a failure regardless of what the world would see. What a joy we have when we finally realize we can trust God in all things.