The Power of Failure
Exodus 2: 11- 3:1
1. Illus. of La Guardia
• Most of us have at least heard of La Guardia airport in New York City. What you may not know it that it is named after Fiorello La Guardia, who was Mayor of that city back in the 1930’s.
• On one occasion, he had implemented a new program that had fallen flat on its face. He had several choices: he could try to cover it up, he could blame it on someone else.
• Instead, he choose to accept responsibility. He called a press conference, and he began his remarks to the assembled newspaper reporters this way: “Boys, I don’t often make a mistake, but when I do, it’s a beauty!”
2. Is that you? Have you ever fallen flat on your face in absolute failure? Some of you are nodding, “Yes sir, I’ve been there.” Some of us might even be there today. If you are one of those lucky ones who’ve never fallen flat on your face in failure, I promise you that you will. It’s just a matter of time!
3. Well, I’ve got some good news for all us failure prone people. Failure, can be one of the most beneficial things that could ever happen to you! If you will trim your sails in just the right direction during those times of failure, God will produce some things in your life that you might not ever see any other way. You say, “Tim, what do you mean by trimming your sails?” Not all failure is beneficial. It depends on our attitude. We have to be genuinely broken before God, and genuinely submissive to God, during that time of failure for it to produce these spiritual benefits we’re going to talk about today.
4. I know this is true, because it happened to Moses! Let me bring you up to speed. Moses has reached full manhood. He has figured out that he is of Jewish descent. He sees an Egyptian abusing one of his countrymen, and after looking around carefully, he kills the Egyptian. The next day, he realizes the word has spread, and that there is a price on his head! Fleeing the county, he finds himself sitting by the well, and absolute failure! You see, he wanted to help his countrymen, but he didn’t! As far as he knows, he has blown his last chance to do anything for the Jews. Sitting down by a well, he has lost it all: position, power, wealth, opportunity.
5. Text: Describes some of the beneficial changes that failure produced in the life of Moses.
6. Today: If we are genuinely broken and submissive, failure can produce some beneficial changes in our life.
7. What are these changes? Our text gives us at least 4.
Change #1: Failure can give you a teachable spirit
1. Now Moses had been educated in the finest school in Egypt (The temple of the sun, the “Oxford of the ancient world”). Extra-biblical accounts tell us that he was a great military leader, and most ancient historians believe that his Pharaoh had no male children, very likely placing Moses in line for the throne. It would be hard not to get a swelled head under those circumstances, wouldn’t it?
2. When you study the life of Moses from this point forward, you make an amazing discovery: he had a very teachable spirit! I’m not saying he was perfect. For example, God had to convince him at the burning bush that everything would be all right! I am saying that generally speaking, when God had a lesson for Moses, Moses learned it!
3. Why? Because he found out at the well of failure that he didn’t have all the answers to life. In that moment, he began developing a teachable spirit.
4. Principle: Failure can teach us the same! And when we learn that we don’t have all the answers, we are well on the road to a teachable spirit!
5. Illus. of daddy teaching me to change points and plugs
• When I was 16, I bought an old 64 Chevy. Only problem was the rings were going bad. Used just about as much oil as gas!
• Besides blowing smoke, fouled out the spark plugs on a regular basis. Daddy was trying to show me how to change them.
• Well, when you are 16, there are just very few things you don’t know! Wouldn’t listen, just had to do it my way.
• He finally backed off and let me! When I tried to drive it out of driveway, was sputtering and clunking along at a top speed of about 15 MPH!
• Sheepishly backed car back into place, admitted maybe I didn’t know everything, and asked daddy to show me the right way to do it.
• Messing things up royally has a way of producing a teachable spirit within us, doesn’t it?
6. See Psalms 119:71-72. The Psalmist is saying, “When I fell flat on my face, I started studying your Word. When my way didn’t work, I started wanting to learn how to do it Your way!”
7. Let me ask you something: Is your way working for you? Is your life, marriage, job etc. what it should be? If you do it your way long enough, you’ll fall flat on your face. And if you have a broken and submissive heart when it happens, you’ll develop a teachable spirit. You’ll realize your way doesn’t work, and you will be open for God to teach you to do life His way.
8. Failure can produce a teachable spirit within us.
Change #2: Failure can give you a servant’s heart
1. See Exodus 2:16-17. Now get the scene. Moses is sitting at the well, wondering what to do next with his life. He sees a group of women watering some sheep. In a minute, some rough looking shepherds come up and run the women off so that they can water their own flocks. Moses says to himself, “that’s not right.” He gets up and runs the shepherds off, refusing to let them abuse these women.
2. Now don’t miss what happens next. The text says he watered their flock. Now you need to get the full picture here. 24 hours ago, he was the Prince of Egypt, in line for the throne. Now, he is performing the most menial task imaginable for a small group of nobodies in the most obscure location you can imagine. Why? Because he has just choked down the biggest piece of humble pie you can imagine. “Some bug shot deliverer I turned out to be!”
3. Then, by the well of failure, God says to him, “Moses, you want to be a deliverer of the people? There are some women right there who need delivering!” In the midst of failure Moses discovers the joy of serving others without fanfare, with reward, and without thanks, simply because it is the right thing to do. Moses has developed a servant’s heart!
4. Principle: Failure, as long as it is coupled with genuine brokenness and submission, can produce a servant’s heart in us!
5. Illus. of LFH
• She was a piece of work.
• Had a big musical presentation one Christmas. Names of choir put in program. Because of space constraints, her first name was abbreviated.
• Threw a tantrum the next day. “What if somebody didn’t know that was me serving God in that choir musical?”
• Does anybody but me see anything wrong with that statement? A lust for recognition means you’re not serving God or others. You’re really serving self, aren’t you?
• How rare in the Kingdom is the servant heart!
6. So how about it? Do you have a servant’s heart? Are you willing to serve in an obscure position, and do it without recognition or thanks?
Maybe you dreamed of teaching the biggest SS class in town? Are you willing to teach that struggling little class that meets in a broom closet instead? Do you have a servant’s heart?
Maybe God has blessed you musically. And you are perfectly willing to use that ability for the glory of God…as long as you are going to be in the spotlight. How about if you’re asked to sing in the second fiddle position, with little or no spotlight shining on you? Do you have a servant’s heart?
Maybe you always thought you’d be a missionary to Africa or Chine, but it just didn’t work out. Are you willing to start an evangelistic Bible class in your home, or go through FAITH training, so you can be a missionary right here in Jackson?
7. As long as you bring brokenness and submission to it, the well of failure can produce a servant’s heart.
Change #3: Failure teaches us to rely on God
1. See vs 23-25. In the fullness of God’s timing, Pharaoh died and Israel began to cry out for deliverance. Now, you better believe that Moses heard the news from trading caravans and travelers from Egypt. But notice what Moses does: nothing! Now, 40 years before that, when a Jew needed help with an Egyptian, Moses had jumped into the fray and killed the Egyptian. Read that story in Exodus 2. There is no mention that God told him to do that. He just hopped up and did it. But now, when Israel was crying out for deliverance, what does he do? Nothing! He didn’t try to organize a special ops mission, or slip back into Egypt as an assassin, or try to form an underground resistance movement. Why? Because God hadn’t told him to do any of those things!
2. Now in chapter 3, God is going to speak to Moses out a burning bush and give him some clear marching orders. These orders sounded so outlandish that Moses swallows hard and tries to get out of the job, but bottom line is that he does it. If there was one thing Moses had learned, it was to rely on God’s direction and power!
3. Principle: Failure + broken and submissive heart, will teach you to rely on God.
4. Warning: often interpret relying on God = doing nothing. Relying on God = working hard, but doing it in His timing, using His methods, and trusting Him to empower and bless!
5. Illus. of man lost in wilderness
• Hadn’t eaten in several days. Came across a road, sat down there to die.
• “Lord, you’ve got to help me!” About that time a bread truck came barreling by, back door popped open, loaf of bread fell out.
• “Lord, if you want me to have that bread, make it float across the road over here and into my mouth.”
5. We sometimes have the idea that relying on God means not doing anything, just trusting Him to do it all.
SS teacher who says, “I want my class to grow, but I’m not going to make any visits. I’ll just trust God to do it!”
Ministry leader who says, “I want my ministry to prosper, but I’m not going to plan and work. I’ll just trust God to bless.
6. The hardest thing in the world is to depend on God! We want to do things our way in our time. If God isn’t ready, we want to bulldog our way through and make things happen. We’ve all done that, haven’t we? Something about failure helps us to realize that we can’t accomplish anything of lasting significance that way.
7. Failure teaches us to rely on God.
