Failure Is Part Of The Process
Many of us believers equate hearing from God to success or not failing, and often when we fail at the thing we clearly heard God tell us to do, we assume that maybe we did not hear God or we did not hear Him properly…
It’s normal to question everything. We often question our entire relationship with God and our ability to hear from Him. And the voices around us often don’t help. I have been at this place more times than I can count. The voice of God equals success not failure and if it is indeed God who spoke you, you cannot fail, right? Wrong.
Let me tell you a story from the book of Judges 20: 18–48. This passage takes place after the horrific crime committed in Gibeah (Judges 19). The tribe of Benjamin refuses to hand over the guilty men, leading to civil war between Benjamin and the rest of Israel.
The Israelites seek the Lord at Bethel before going to battle against Benjamin. God tells them that Judah should go first, and despite seeking God before going into battle on the first- and second-day, Israel suffers significant losses. 22,000 men on day one, 18,000 on day two.
Notice that Israel sought God before going into battle and for two days they suffered significant losses. Israel went to seek God again, fasting, weeping before the Lord, and the Lord assured them they would win, and on the third day they did.
Hearing from God does not guarantee success
Failure does not mean you stop seeking the Lord, and failure does not mean you question the voice of God. Israel heard God right the first time and obeyed His instruction, yet for two full days they lost significantly and yet they did not question whether they heard God right. They sought God even after failure.
Now I know that you and I have experienced many failures, many heart breaks, things not going the way we thought they would go when we first heard God. But I am here to encourage you and myself that failure is not the absence of God, failure does not mean you did something wrong, failure is an opportunity to go back to God and ask Him again what you should do, do not grow weary. Keep moving forward and I promise you that at the appointed time it will happen.
TRENDING
