Failure

“Failure”… I would venture to say that no one really likes that word and it is likely that most of us try to avoid failing altogether. Certainly when we do fail, talking about it or notifying the Press is not on the top of our list either. I also think it would be safe to say that the “feeling like a failure” is the real killer, and where most of us get stuck.

Failure comes in many shapes and sizes. The small ones are easier to get through without too much of a hassle. We generally come through it with minimal damage to our ego, purpose, and value, but those are not the kind I am trying to get at… it is the big ones.  A failed marriage; being fired after years of service; the failure a parent feels when a child is making bad choices that are harmful to them, etc. It is certain that we will all face failure. But when it does arrive, how do we can come to terms with it ? All I know is that the following is how God helped me through. Thank you Lord. Maybe it will be helpful for you also.

Shortly after my twenty year marriage ended, I wrote the poem below entitled “Seeds”. It was during one of those breakdown moments that I just started scribbling it down through my stream of tears. It wouldn’t be until days later that God had me revisit the last verse of this poem. It was then and since then that God has revealed to me that our failures and experiences are just as important as our successes, if not more. They are the accumulation of who we are and who we will become, and in fact, they are the very thing that makes us beautiful.

Seeds

Every time I plant the seeds they do not grow
But I will tenderly care for them.

Every time I plant the seeds they do not grow
but I will faithfully water them.

I cannot see them underground
But I will ask the Son to shine for them.

Every time I plant the seeds they do not grow
But I will continue to hope for them.

I want to dig and see what they are doing underground
But I will try to wait for them.

Every time I plant the seeds they do not grow
But I will wipe the tears I’ve cried for them.

Every time I plant the seeds they do not grow

I wonder how I have failed them.

Sometimes I plant the seeds that do not grow
but when I am underground … I will be a part of them.