Failure Is Never Final

- Moses stuttered and was a murderer.

- David committed adultery with Bethsheba, and then murdered her husband to hide his failing. Yet, David became known as a man “after God’s heart.”

Folks, the list could go on and on. Everyone fails!

Everybody fails. You’re a superstar in baseball if you only make an out 700 times out of a thousand at bat. If you’re a professional basketball player, you’re at the top of the game if you miss 50% of your shots.

1. Even good guys stumble! History is filled with the biographies of failures who got up and kept going.

- George Washington lost 2/3 of all the battles he fought during the American Revolution, but eventually won the war and became the first President of the United States.

- Napoleon graduated 42nd in a class of 43 students. Brilliant! Then he went out and conquered Europe. Failure doesn’t have to be final.

- Billy Graham said that when he was asked to preach his first sermon. He had 4 sermons prepared and he was so nervous he preached all four of them in under 10 minutes. Can you imagine if Billy Graham had said, “You know, I’m just not cut out for this. I don’t want to endure that kind of embarrassment again”? The world would have missed one of the greatest preachers of all time. Failure doesn’t have to be final.

C. Failure is not absent from Christian lives

Do you believe in God

…I am a cashier at Shoemakers Fuel Station, the last top on Hwy 77 one can make before heading south bound out of Lincoln. I work the evening shift from 3pm to midnight most everyday of the week and so it’s really no surprise to me to see some pretty wild things happen! However, the wildest thing came Saturday night after Dare 2 Share 2011 was released from Pershing Center. My slow and boring night was unexpectedly lit up by over 150 wild, joyful, and passionate kids that came crusing into my station on your return trips home! I enjoyed seeing all of you there and the burning passion you all had for the awesome weekend you shared together! It brought back great memories for me! But, I have a special shout out to an unknown individual who happen to be there that night! Whoever this guy or girl may have been, he or she left a simple card that asked a powerful question: Do You Believe in God? It wasn’t until I closed the store that night that I had found this little card next to my register and I happen to like it so I kept it and took it home with me deciding later that when I came back to work the next day I would leave it next to my register again and see if anyone would notice it! I served 423 customers that next night and after i tallied up how many people said something to me about my little card…my total only came to 1.

But this isn’t meant to be a sad story! Jesus said not to hid (sic) our light but to let it glow and shine bright to others! Well my purpose for writing this is to find that guy or girl who left me that card for me that night! Who was that ONE person? Well, an older gentleman, i would have to guess was in his late 60s, asked me why I would have such a “rubbish card” on my counter. I simply replied that I am a strong believer myself and that it was left here by somebody and that maybe someone else would like to have it. He then told me about how he didn’t want to believe in God because “God stole his wife” during a tragic car accident a few years back. We began talking about that and I told him how sorry I was to hear such news but that God sometimes God gives us hard times so that we learn to love to good times more! He simply smiled back! We chatted away for a good 30 mins or more about my faith and stories of his times with his wife until he gruntly asked me “So how do you do this silly thing anyway?” Caught of guard by his question, I stumbled with my words when I told him that I would help walk him thru the little book! He was a reluctant and stubborn but if there was one thing that just enlightened me more then anything it was to see that tear rolls down his face!