-Samson’s Fatal Flaw: Judges 14

“Samson said to his father, Get her for me, for she pleases me well” – Judges 14:3

Failure to exercise self-discipline can ruin a person. Lack of self-discipline caused Samson to make mistakes that led to his capture by the philistines who put out his eyes and enslaved him. His downfall began when he wanted to marry a heathen woman. His demand “Get her for me, for she pleases me well” set the pattern of self-indulgence that ruined him.

Without self-control, we can squander great talents and waste wonderful opportunities. Our appetites for food, our sexual desires, our enjoyment of recreation, and our drive to succeed can become all-consuming if we fail to hold them in check. People who excel in their sports do so because they eat properly, exercise, and practice regularly. Likewise, people who consistently walk with God can discipline themselves to read the Bible, pray and obey Him.

For what we have to know is that self-indulgence guarantees failure: self-discipline assures victory. Discipline yourself so others won’t have to.

-Slaves of Sin: Judges 16:1-21 

“Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” – John 8:34

If we fail to exercise self-discipline, automatically, we become slave of sin. Thus when we repeatedly give in to a particular sin, we become a slave to it. A man dying of AIDS admitted that he felt guilty about his homosexual way of life. But he couldn’t carry out his resolve to give up his immoral lifestyle. Another young man admitted that his wife left him because of his preoccupation with pornography. He is unhappy but he can’t stay away “smut shops”.

Samson too had become a slave to sin. He continued an affair with Delilah even though he knows she was bent on betraying him. Samson was not stupid, but he was a slave to his lust. Like the homosexual and the pornography addict, he could not do what he knew he should.

Once we start down the wrong path, turning back is difficult. Jesus said that whoever keeps on sinning will become a slave to sin (Jn 8:34). Some of the most dangerous practices bring temporary pleasure. That’s why they are so ensnaring. Freedom, however, is found in becoming a slave of Jesus Christ. For when we are in the grip of an evil practice that is ruining our life, we can acknowledge our sin and helplessness to the Lord, submit fully to Him, and be assured that He will deliver us.

The pleasures of sin are for a season, but it’s wages are for eternity.

-How to fail successfully: Philippians 2:12-17

“God… works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure”. – Philippians 2:13

A great inventor Charles Kettering suggests that we learn to fail intelligently. He said “once you’ve failed, analyze the problem and find out why, because each failure is one more step leading up to the cathedral of success. The only time you don’t want to fail is the last time you try”.

Here are three suggestions for turning failure into success: (1) Honestly face defeat; never fake success. (2) Exploit the failure; don’t waste it. Learn all you can from it; every bitter experience can teach you something. (3) Never use failure as an excuse for not trying again. We may not be able to reclaim the loss, undo the damage, or reverse the consequences, but can make a new start.

God does not shield us from the consequences of our actions just because we are His children. But for us, failure is never final because the Holy Spirit is constantly working in us to accomplish His purposes. He may let us fail, but He urges us to view defeat as a steppingstone to maturity. God is working for our good in every situation, we must act on that good in order to grow.

Knowing how to benefit from failure is the key to success – especially when we trust God to work in us, both to will and do His good pleasure.

 Failure is failing to trust and believe that God can accomplish His purpose through you; failure is failing to keep on trying to do all the savior has asked you to do.

Success is failure turned inside out.

-Close The Gate: Isaiah 54:1-10

“Do not fear … for you will forget the shame of your youth”. – Isaiah 54:4

Two men walking down a road decided to take a shortcut home. They passed through a field where a number of cattle were grazing. Deeply engrossed in conversation, they forget to shut the gate behind them. A few minutes later one them noticed the oversight and ran back to close the gate. As he did, he remembered the last words of an old man who summoned all his children to his bedside and gave them this wise counsel: “As you travel down life’s pathway remember to close the gates behind you”.

The man knows that problems, difficult situations, heartbreaks, and failure were inevitable, but he wanted his children to know that they didn’t have to allow those things to follow them through life. Once we have confessed a sin and have done what we can to right the wrong, we must put the incident behind us.

The apostle Paul told us to forget the things of the past and reach forward to those things which are ahead. Then we will be better able to “press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).

For we invite defeat when we remember what we should forget.

-Beginning Again: Acts 15:36-41

“But Paul insisted that they should not take [him]”. – Acts 15:38; “Get Mark,… for he is useful to me”. 2 Timothy 4:11.

Although we can never undo a failure, we can learn from the experience. A football player who misses a penalty kick, can correct his penalty taking skills and come back later to score. He’ll not erase the missed penalty kick from his record, but his failure can teach him valuable lessons that will help him to score future penalty kicks.

John Mark accompanied Paul and Barnabas when they started their first missionary journey (Acts 13:5), but he soon departed from them (Acts 13:13). While he was at home he apparently regretted leaving, so he asked to be included the next his friends set out. Barnabas wanted to give him another chance, but Paul didn’t, so they parted company. Barnabas took mark, and Paul took Silas. Mark eventually became a respected christian leader, and God used him to write one of the four gospels. Paul, in his second prison epistle to Timothy, asked for Mark, saying, “He is useful to me for ministry”. 

It doesn’t do any good to brood about what went wrong; wishing we could do something over is an exercise in futility. Each day is new. With God’s help we can succeed, if we learn from yesterday’s failure. Christians live in “the land of beginning again”.

Failure doesn’t mean you’ll never succeed; it will just take longer.

-Sign Of Life: Psalm 37:18-34

“Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the LORD upholds him with His hand”. – Psalm 37:24

When the practice of slavery still existed in the U.S., a plantation owner and his slave went duck hunting one day. The master was an atheist, but the slave a christian. On the way, the carriage wheel lost a rim. The slave was hammering it back on when he accidentally hit his finger. Instantly some bad words passed from his lips, but just as quickly he was on his knees asking forgiveness.

The master said “You’re a christian. Tell me, why do you struggle so to live it? Here I am an infidel and I don’t have any problem like that”. This slave have no answer, but just then some ducks flew overhead. The master raised his gun and fired two shots. “Go after that wounded one, not the dead one”. Spotting the flattering bird, the slave exclaimed, “I’ve got an answer for you, Boss. You said Christianity is not good because I have to struggle. Well I’m the duck with the broken wing, and the devil’s after me. I’m alive and struggling to get away from him. But Boss you are the dead duck”.

In learning to live a christ – honoring life, we sometimes despair over failure. Even though we know we can have victory, we are weak and often fall. God’s grace enables us to get up and go on. Our struggle is a sign of life.

To rejoice in righteousness and grieve over wickedness is proof of a Genuine Christian.

-When Failure Isn’t Failure: Philippians 1:8 – 18

“The things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel”. – Philippians 1:12. Twice the current president of the republic of Ghana failed to win the elections, in 2000 and 2004. But he kept developing his talents, and today he is the president of Ghana.

The apostle Paul planned to go to Rome to preach the gospel as a free man, but he was taken there as a prisoner instead. It looked as if he had failed to achieved his noble ambition. In his place of confinement, however, he witnessed with such determination that all the palace guard heard the gospel, and from his prison he wrote some of his outstanding epistles. – That’s why he could write to the Christians in Philippi that everything had turned out for good for the advancement of the gospel.

When our carefully laid plans fizzle; it’s time to analyze our failure to take our appropriate actions. If we discover that we blundered, we can correct our mistakes. If we trace our seeming lack of success to circumstances beyond our control, we can ask God to teach us what He wants us to learn and trust Him to bring good out of our disappointments.

Our failures can become a stepping stones to great successes. For most successes follow many failures.

                                                                 THE END

                                                                  By: ROBERT KORTEY APLA-KWEKU