Abundant Life Episode 30 In this episode Saso and Ben discuss the topic of failure. FA'ILURE, noun fa'ilyur. A failing; deficience; cessation of supply, or total defect; as the failure of springs or streams; failure of rain; failure of crops. Omission; non-performance; as the failure of a promise; a man's failure in the execution of a trust. Key verse Luke 16:9 January 17 is the typical day where New Year’s resolutions are broken. That is a total of 17 days after they have started. It does not take long for the ambition of yesterday to become the failure of today. We all come to a point in our lives where we do not add up to the standards of others and to the standards, we set for ourselves. Have you ever failed at something in your life? Well, you are in good company. If we are honest it’s not fun to fail and if we are honest sometimes it hurts. It’s like they say death and taxes are inevitable, but failure is also inevitable. The bible also tells us to expect trouble. Job 14:1 It’s not a matter if failure will happen, it’s a matter of when. How do you look at failure? Do you see failure as a negative thing? Does failure define who you are? Do you see failure as an opportunity to grow and learn? Success is a pile of failure that you are standing on. -Dave Ramsey  I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. - Michael Jordan For Christians, failure is a negative response to our trials and testing. Sometimes we call these sanctification tests. We get presented with a set of circumstances and then we must chose how to respond. At times we pass the test and other times we do not pass the test. As you mature as a Christian, we hope that there are more wins than losses. The Christian life is about your sanctification and how over time you are changed into the image of Christ. It’s about the journey and what you learn, and how you mature as a Christian and it’s often times of testing and trial that we have opportunity to grow as Christians. Interestingly, the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. If you were to take a straight shot from Egypt to the promised land, they likely could have made it there in under 5 years. But God was trying to teach them to depend on Him, to trust Him to obey Him. Some learned and grew in that fashion and others did not. Examples of failure from scripture Numbers 20:10-12 Moses sister Miriam had died, the people talked of stoning him, the people were thirsty, and Moses the meek man, lost it and struck the rock. He was told to speak to it but out of frustration, he struck it twice. He failed in reaching the promised land, and he was told he would not see it with the people he had led for all those years. Moses, needless to say had a bad week. How about David? II Samuel 11:14-17 David saw Uriah’s wife and had to have her for herself. He tried to cover his sin which is impossible to do, and in his attempt to do so, he had Uriah killed in battle. David was entrusted as the king to protect and look out for the people, but here he was pursuing his own lusts and doing the opposite of protecting his people. David failed in being a righteous king, failed in self-control and failed in pleasing God. Ever failed in these areas? Ever tried to hide your sin? How did that go? Matthew 26:69-75 Have you done something to deny Christ in your life? Have you ever been ashamed of Him? How about in your witness of Him? We all fail at some point in our Christian lives and many times it is several times throughout the day. God can only use people that have failed because that is all there is. A preacher once said, “Failure is not a person, but it is an event.” The mark is perfection but there is no such thing as perfection. Romans 3:23