Success found in the wrong places

Faith Fellowship Church…PO Box 1586…Broken Arrow, OK 74013…Pastor Terry Dashner…918/451/0270

Again in the words of Henry Petroski, “All the success of engineering as far back in history as the pyramids and as far into the future as the wildest conceptions of mile-high skyscrapers may be imagined to have begun with a wish to achieve something without failure, where ‘without failure’ to the engineer means not only to stand without falling down but also to endure with what might be called ‘structural soundness.’”

Consider the Egyptian pyramids. The pyramid shape is an extremely stable one. Maybe in time past, the idea of a pyramid shape was realized when someone let a fist-full of sand drain from one’s hand to the ground, forming a neat, little, pyramid shape. Thus was born the idea of mimicking the shape, the shape that resembles mountains, by building a pyramid. And certainly one could argue that the pyramid shape is, indeed, a strong and lasting shape because the ancient ones still stand in Egypt. Yet, in the same breath, it must be argued that it took more than the pyramid shape to secure its longevity. It required engineering design that was, at the time, one of mostly trial and error.

This brings up an interesting point. Success, if the story is completely told, comes not through former success but current failure. I agree with brother Petroski. We learn more about what works in engineering (and life) from failure of a structure than we do from its longevity. Petroski says, “No one wants to learn by mistakes, but we cannot learn enough from successes to go beyond the state of the art.”

The Bible says that all things work together for our good, we that love God and are called according to His purpose. All things can work for our benefit. Is this really true? How can failure, dire circumstances, setbacks, problems, broken relationships, and on and on and on, work out for our good? Setbacks alone can be devastating to a young man’s career plans. In times like these we need to recognize that God is greater than our setbacks. As a matter of fact, Jesus is Lord over all creation. His name is higher than any other name that is named. That simply means if we can name our failure—setback, broken relationship, fear, sickness, problems beyond our control—the name of Jesus supersedes it. As we began to speak the name of Jesus in authority over our failures, the failure must succumb to glory of God.

Remember this. We can learn from our failures. We learn that Jesus is in control of our lives, even through the bad times. His authority is above every power and authority in heaven and earth, turning all our failings to good in time. With this in mind, dear believer, keep fighting the good fight of faith. Stay the course. Jesus is soon coming. Today is a day to laugh at your shortcomings because you are casting all your cares on Jesus. He really does care for you!

Pastor T.

If you have no failures, please pass this message along to someone who is human. They might benefit from the thought that they are not alone in the world.

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writes for the fun of it. 918-451-0270