Understanding failure and bringing an end to it

perpetually
(Proverbs 3:13-23)

What is failure?

Failure is a result of wrong steps, a product of the application of wrong facts, or a wrong
application of correct facts.

It is the revelation of one’s breaking point. Your breaking point is the proof of the elastic
limit of your success power.

The true test of your success power is your ability to manage failure, which culminates in
persistence by the virtue of strong will and your ability to follow divine leading. This is
because most of the leading of God does not appeal to human sense.

A man that is full of his own will, ambition and passion is not far from failure. Life
will be full of trial and error if God is not the one leading. Life without God’s
leadership is a bond of frustration and confusion. Human mentality is limited, no
matter how learned you are. A spiritually dead man (carnal man), a spiritually
proud man (a man that is full of his own way) and a spiritually stubborn man (a
man that does not obey God in all things) can never be far from failure in life.

Note

There are two lessons we can draw from the story of the ‘Prodigal Son’ (Luke 15:11-16).
1. An example of a man who is trying to succeed outside God. A man who thinks he
knows it all.
2. A life of indiscipline.

The invisible blessings of failure

1. Failure in many ways makes you discover your major area of divine assignment and
ability or divine endowment.

A young lady, after her graduation from the university, went in search of job for five solid
years and could not find one. One day, she decided to attend a party with her friends, after
making bead necklace for both herself and her friends. In this big party, there met her
some women of substance, including wives of big government officials.

These women demanded for her expertise. From this point, her financial fortune began.
Today, she is a millionaire.
Your great success today is hiding within your undiscovered, untapped ability without
your knowing. God uses failure to channel you to what you should actually do in your
life.

2. Failure helps you to discover what you are not good at.

3. Failure helps you to discover how a principle does not work when you eventually
locate the right way to operate the principle.

4. Reacting to failure positively can link you to your greatest fortune, when you have a
curious mind to find out “Why” and “How”.

Many great successes today were born out of several failures.

5. When we fail to learn the right principles on time, God uses failures to teach us or
bring us back to the right ways.

6. Failure leads to adversity. Adversity wakes up the dormant atoms of your ingenuity or
the giant in you. Adversity is a challenge in disguise. It leads to discoveries.

In essence, success is failure turned inside out if only failure is understudied.

The major causes of failure

1. Making decisions based on sentiment, fear (emotion) ( Ruth 1:1-6) and

intellectual confidence (Genesis 13:10, 11; Proverbs 14:12; 3:5-7; Acts 26:9-14)
without divine direction.
2. Pride (Proverbs 16:18; 15:22)
3. Inadequate information concerning one’s pursuit (Ecclesiastes 10:15).
4. Operating under a curse (Deuteronomy 28:15, 16, 19, 23, 25, 29, 43-45).
5. Lack of mentors (Proverbs 15:22).

Three major covenant factors for success in life

The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of current English defines ‘Success’ as the
gaining of one’s aim. It also defines it as good fortune or prosperity.

The biblical definition of Success is the fulfillment of a divine plan in a man’s life or
achieving divine goals.

God has not designed us for failure in life. We are covenanted for success, no matter the
challenges we face in our daily living (1 John 5:4; Proverbs 4:18; Job 8:9; Ecclesiastes
7:8).

What are these factors I want to share today?

1. Purpose/Destiny/Divine direction- Jeremiah 1:5; Genesis 12:1-3; 26:1-14

Until we start seeking God’s plan for our lives, we will continue to live in anxiety and
worry, and we will continue to strive in vain on daily basis. Every opportunity that comes
our way, no matter how good they look, are not all leading to a good and desired end
(Proverbs 14:12). We are all designed for a specific purpose in life; and until we find this
purpose, we will not really find fulfillment in any other thing we tend to pursue.

If I may ask you this questions: who are you on this earth? Are you just here to
occupy space or just to fill up the numbers? Why are you on this earth? What are
you made for? What are you designed to do for your generation? No matter how far
you have gone on a wrong direction, you can never get to your destination. Where
are you heading to in life? What does future holds for you? The correct answers to
these questions will deliver you from depression, anxiety, worry, frustration, futility,
wastage of precious time, resources and energy, and also, from suicide. Your steps
also will be ordered aright and success will be your portion.

There is nothing more fulfilling like walking in the perfect will of God for your life.
Success is not the accumulation of wealth in order to make a name for your self. It is the
fulfillment of God’s purpose for your existence (Proverbs 19:21; Jeremiah 10:23).

One of the reasons why humans get frustrated in their pursuits is because they are
following their ambitions without being sensitive to divine direction or instructions. One
of such examples is found in the Genesis 11:1-6. The Lord will always frustrate the plans
of humans that are not in conformity to His original plan before the world began (Psalm
33:10, 11).

Also, one of the reasons why God does not answer some of the prayers of many is
because these prayers are not in agreement with His fore-ordained plan for them (1 John
5:14, 15).

Before we came to this world, foundations and pillars have been laid in their accord by
God (Ephesians 1:4, 5, 11). Until we follow things the way God has set them to be, we
will never see the high places of Life.

Success begins by the revelation of divine realities about an individual’s personal life;
hence, these realities demand our efforts to discover them.

You can never go so far in life until you begin to follow God’s leading on daily basis!

One of the examples of biblical success is King David. God called him a man after His
own heart. Some of his stories of successes is found in the following bible passages:

2 Samuel 2:1-4; 5:17-25

2. Obedience to covenant demands-

The kingdom of God here on earth is ruled by divine principle. The violation of these
principles is the undoing of many people. Things will never work right, even if you
discover your divine assignment in life, until you start working by God’s word. The word
of God is full of ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’. These are guiding principles for our success.

Scriptures:
Deuteronomy 7:7-9; 28:1, 2; Job 36:8-12; Psalm 1:1-3; Joshua 1:8.

Those that think that they are too wise by not keeping the covenant of God or that
the men of God are deceiving them are deceiving themselves without knowing.

3. Staying under a Prophetic anointing- Every Pastor that is placed over you is your
spiritual father. They carry your blessings from the Lord. You can never rise high in life
without them (2 Chronicles 15:3-6). The value you place on them will determine the
measure of the flow of virtue you receive from God through them. How much you
respect any Pastor is a proof of how much you value and respect God. Remember, they
are God’s representatives. Your prosperity is tied to their lives and ministries. God is the
one who designed it to be so, and it can never be changed.

Scriptures:
2 Chronicles 26:1-14; 20:20; Hosea 12:13; Ezra 5:1, 2; 6:14.