The Upside of Down

Polls have shown time and time again that the fear of failure is one of the most common and crippling threats we face. And we do face it...all of us. We’ve all encountered failure before, whether personally or professionally. Ways that we’ve not quite lived up to our expectations. Ways that we’ve let ourselves down...or let God down. Failure is an awful feeling—but it doesn’t have to be. God wants us to see the truth, that there is an upside to every down. For every cross, there’s an empty grave! We don’t have to fear failure. We can embrace it. So the question is: “Will we choose to see that truth and allow it to reinvent the way we see failure?”

Part 1

Fail-osophy 101

We’ve all taken classes at the School of Hard Knocks. Life has a way of knocking us down a peg or two...or ten. We fail and we fail often. And one of the worst aspects about that failure is how final it feels. Like this letdown is going to mark you for life. So how do we handle it when failure leaves us hopeless? By clinging to the foundational truth that our failure isn’t fatal. Our failings don’t surprise or scare God. In fact, God knew and has already made a way through.

Part 2

The Prevention Paradox

Did you know the likelihood of a severe injury is higher in football than in rugby? Even though football players wear padding and helmets and rugby players don’t? That is what we call The Prevention Paradox. The more we do to prevent injury and failure, the more susceptible we become. In fact, many safety measures we use often make failure more likely. That’s because failure has never been something we were supposed to avoid. And when we try to do so, we find out it just makes our life and problems worse.