Falling Forward

by Tim Howard                               

While reading the Bible this past week I came across a familiar Proverb from King Solomon that caught my attention. It simply says: “Don’t interfere with good people’s lives; don’t try to get the best of them. No matter how many times you trip them up, God-loyal people don’t stay down long; Soon they’re up on their feet, while the wicked end up flat on their faces.” Msg. That scripture reminded me of a Japanese Proverb that says: Fall seven times and stand up eight."

The wise King and the Japanese Proverb are talking about failure and success. The road to success will always take you on a path that leads through failure. How you deal with failure will determine the level of your success. While it may be difficult to wrestle with failure, I’m convinced success is even more grueling.

For every 10 people who successfully handle failure, there seems to be only one person who can handle success. Maybe that is why we hear so many horror stories from professional sports! Young men and women in their 20’s making millions of dollars before they have developed enough character for their success to stand upon.

In every sporting event where two opposing teams face off, there is a loser and a winner. Someone fails and someone succeeds.  Imagine how the Golden State Warriors felt in comparison to the Cleveland Cavaliers last week when they swept the series. Success feels great and failure – Not so great!

Our view of failure and success must be based on truth. These five quotes might help.

1. Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill.

2. “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.” Confucius

3.  “A man may fail many times but he isn’t a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.” John Burroughs

4.  “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” Albert Einstein

5. “Success builds character, failure reveals it.” Dave Checkett

Here’s a bit of wisdom taken from a giant named Goliath. You may remember – He’s the guy everyone thought would surely win the battle with his opponent – David.

When reading the story of David and Goliath it seems impossible that a more powerful, more experienced and much larger man in stature would fail to win this battle?  But he did! Why? The answer is found in three decisions Goliath made as he entered the battle.

1. He chose to depend upon his own strength, his own wisdom and his own abilities rather than God. When human insight trumps heavenly wisdom and you act upon your intuition rather than God’s instruction, you are in trouble.

2. He distanced himself from people and stood alone. No one reaches success apart from the help of others. Learn to love and listen to people. Even if you don’t agree with them.

3. Lastly, Goliath despised small things but it was a small smooth stone, shot from a slingshot that brought about his demise. It’s the little things in life that matter most. Take care of the little things and failure will be minimized in the big things.

If you want your failures to lead to success – Make God a part of the equation – Let people have input and take care of the small things.

Failure and Success

by Tim Howard                                                               

In every sporting event where two opposing teams face off there is a loser and a winner. Someone fails and someone succeeds. The feelings are quite different and the contrasting emotions can be seen in the demeanor of each player.

Imagine how the New England Patriots felt in comparison to the Atlanta Falcons when the Patriots came back from what seemed to be an insurmountable lead to win Super Bowl 51! Success feels great and failure – Not so great!

After all these years, I can still remember the first ‘F’ I received on my report card when I attended Junior High School.  Up until then – I had been a straight ‘A’ student but when I saw that ‘F’ on my report card – It was like branding a very large ‘L’ for loser on my forehead.

Since that time – My view of failure has changed. Here are some quotes I’ve picked up along the way that have helped me evolve.

1. Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill.

2. “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.” Confucius

3.  “A man may fail many times but he isn’t a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.” John Burroughs

4. “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.” J.K. Rowling

5.  “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” Albert Einstein

6. “Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success.” Robert T. Kiyosaki

7. “Success builds character, failure reveals it.” Dave Checkett

Here’s a bit of wisdom, taken from a giant, named Goliath. You may remember – He’s the guy everyone thought would surely win the battle with his opponent – David. Much like those who chose Atlanta to win when it was 28 to 3 in the last few minutes of the 3rd quarter. The story of David and Goliath is in the Bible – 1 Samuel 17.

When reading the record it seems impossible that a more powerful, more experienced and much larger man in stature would fail to win this battle?  But he did! Why? The answer is found in three decisions Goliath made as he entered the battle.

 1. He chose to depend upon his own strength, his own wisdom and his own abilities rather than God. When human insight trumps heavenly wisdom and you act upon your intuition rather than His instruction, you are in trouble. (Check out what Solomon said in Proverbs 3:5-8)

2. He distanced himself from people and stood alone. No one reaches success apart from the help of others. Learn to love and value people. If you don’t, be prepared to fail. 

3. Lastly, Goliath despised small things but it was a small smooth stone, shot from a slingshot that brought about his demise. It’s the little things in life that matter most. Take care of the little things and you can avoid failure in the big things.

If you want to succeed – Learn the truth about failure – Put God first – People second and take care of the little things.

Today’s Choices, Tomorrow’s Future

by Andrew Cromwell

H.P. Liddon once said, “What we do on some great occasion will probably depend on what we already are: and what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline.”

I have often marveled at how people suddenly come into the public eye. Perhaps it is an actor that bursts onto the scene and suddenly is the hottest commodity in town. Maybe it’s an author that suddenly everyone is reading. Or a comedian that everyone just can’t get enough of. These people seem to rocket straight to the top from nowhere.

But nine times out of ten, they didn’t come from nowhere. What appears from the outside to be an overnight success, was no overnight success at all. It was the result of a lot of hard work, effort, and discipline. I have no doubt, that they probably also benefited from a favorable word from a well-placed individual or an “accidental” connection made that resulted in an open door. But even these happened mostly because the person was ready!

I don’t believe in overnight successes. It’s not that they are completely impossible, but they’re more like winning the lottery than anything else. The problem with winning the lottery is that rarely are people prepared to deal with the money they win. As a result, the lottery becomes more of a curse than a blessing. According to the New York Daily News, 70 percent of lottery winners lose all of their money or go bankrupt within seven years of winning. Most people are just not prepared to be overnight millionaires.

What’s true of money, is true of success in other ways as well. When success comes too quickly, then it is usually lost just as fast. The Bible says in Proverbs that money quickly gained is quickly lost, but hard-earned money continues to grow (Proverbs 13:11).

We have all seen people rocket to the top and then plunge right back out of view just as quickly. There have to be ten “one hit wonders” to every one true success. Fame and fortune are as fleeting as the morning dew, particularly when they are based on a lotto ticket, one performance, or temporary beauty. Honestly, we all should pray that God not make us successful or rich until and if we are ready! It just might destroy us.

But true, lasting success is possible. Lasting success happens when people have put in the time and done the work. Like Colonel Sanders going door to door, when the moment came for him to finally burst onto the scene, he was ready. He had honed both his recipe and his communication skills over many years, and many closed doors.

Are you preparing for success or are you hoping to win the lottery of life? Many of us keep throwing our money away, hoping that this week’s hail mary will fix things in our life. Whether it’s our work life or our home life, our relationships, or our finances, far too often we would rather buy a scratcher and hope for the best then do the hard work of preparing for success. But if we want great marriages, solid jobs, and the respect of our family and friends, it is going to take more than a wish and a prayer. It’s gonna take some hard work.

The great news is, Father God is always willing to work with those who want to work with Him! And that is one formula for success that will always work.

Be Significant

by Andrew Cromwell

Almost everyone wants to have a feeling of significance for their life. Something deep inside us cries out for it. We all want to “leave a mark”, “make a change”, and “be somebody.”

But what does it mean to “leave a mark”?

For some, it is about the number of facebook friends or instagram followers they have. For others it is about making a lot of money and buying the big houses and toys that impress others. Some choose to go the political route and seek to make a change for the better. They measure success in terms of mouths fed, freedoms protected, or children cared for.

How do you measure significance in your life?

The author of Ecclesiastes, Solomon, is said to have been the wisest man, ever. He had a rather skeptical view of our ability to make a difference in the world. Here’s what he says:

“What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.”

Now that’s some pretty depressing stuff! But at the same time, this is something we would all do well to pay attention to. Isn’t it true that we will be forgotten by future generations? For most of us, it won’t take very long at all for our name to be lost. Almost anything we do today is pretty meaningless in the vast scope of things.

So what is the lesson? Humility.

Certainly, we can do great and significant things in this life. But let’s all remember how small we all are in the big picture. And actually rather than making us depressed and despondent, this reality should actually make us feel better. We should feel a weight lifted off of our shoulders as our understanding of what it means to be significant is changed forever.

So if we don’t have to worry about doing something so big that it will be remembered 1,000 years from now—because no one will remember it anyway—what do we need to focus on when it comes to living a life of significance?

Two things. Your character and your relationships.

If you want to leave a mark in this world for the better, then get your internals right and get your relationships right. People that make a mark for the better are those who have found a way to kill selfishness and self-serving impulses and are focused on serving and loving others. It’s that simple.

Simple, but the most difficult thing you’ll ever do. The only way I know how to really get your character to change and to learn how to really improve your relationships is to go to the One who formed you in the first place—God. You can make a lot of change without Him, but you’ll only get so far. And it’s pretty incredible what can happen when you get Him involved!