Failing To Succeed

Okay, I admit it. I’m not much of a reader and that’s odd for someone who professes to love words. But I’d rather see a good story. So when you consider the unlikely, unexpected places we find Jesus, think about films.

I find truth in so many places. Overt? No, not usually. But nevertheless, truth. For example in Seabiscuit there are several haunting moments and memorable lines. My favorite is when the wealthy Charles Howard meets the wandering Tom Smith. They exchange a few comments and Howard asks about a horse that Smith rescued. After Smith confesses that the horse will never race again, Howard inquires why Smith bothered to save the animal. Speaking of himself as well as the horse, Smith says, “You don’t throw a whole life away just ‘cause it’s banged up a little.” Later in the story Howard reprises those words back to Smith. And with them Howard confirms Smith’s worth, and ours.

That truth—that an entire life shouldn’t be discarded because a person fails—reminds me of Is. 42:3, in the NLT. Speaking prophetically of Jesus the prophet says, “He will not crush those who are weak or quench the smallest hope.”

Maybe, like me, you’ve attempted to do something. Something good, something useful. Maybe something for God. Maybe something for people in general. But you failed. Perhaps your dreams exceeded your abilities. Maybe you were in the wrong place or tried at the wrong time or simply didn’t know how to accomplish your heart’s desire. Perhaps you quit one day too soon. But whether you try again to do whatever it was that you once failed to accomplish or you attempt something else completely different, you need to understand one simple truth. Failing doesn’t make you a failure.

Some might suggest that such truth, such good news, can’t be found in anything from Hollywood. But I suggest that those who seek grace find it, sometimes in the most unexpected places.

God doesn’t hide himself. And he will use all means necessary to reach those who need to lose their way so they may find his. Whether such people are sitting in a theater or a church makes no difference to God. What’s important is not where God finds you, but where you go after he does.