Guest Post by Michele Morin
Have you ever felt the crushing effects of failure?
It all started as a strategy for outreach. We sat around a table and began to dream out loud, trusting that the fire of shared passion and the wisdom of group process would yield creative ideas for communicating the love of Christ to our community.
I don’t mind confessing that I loved my dream. We would offer free oil changes to those in need: the poor, the elderly, single parents, come one, come all! Coffee and brownies would make the most of the waiting time as those of us less talented with a wrench would fill cups and keep the conversation flowing. We prepared colorful informational brochures about our church and its programs. We bought supplies, spread the word, and waited.
Not one person signed up.
Not one person called to inquire..
Rebounding from Disappointment
The spectacular crash and burn of my dream rang in my ears for a long time. In fact, it was all I could hear, and it was ages before my idea spigot found its way back to the on-position once again.
Reading the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, I found a soul mate in this life of perpetual rebound from disappointment and failure. For 23 years, God’s Word came to Jeremiah. His calling was certain and his assignment was sure:
“Before I shaped you in the womb,
I knew all about you.
Before you saw the light of day,
I had holy plans for you:
A prophet to the nations—
that’s what I had in mind for you.” (Jeremiah 1:5 MSG)
Jeremiah leaned into that calling just as he leaned into the God who called him.
He rose early, and he burned the midnight oil. His words were the key note in a chorus of prophecy straight from the heart of God, urging Israel to back away from the abyss of their bad behavior.
They did not listen.
Yet, Jeremiah was persistent.
Looking back, there are plenty of reasons why my outreach brainstorm yielded not even a passing shower. In the twenty-something years since, I’ve learned a lot about planning and about the unique ministry climate of my mid-coast Maine context. It was an idea that was doomed to fail before it even started, and yet . . .
Our story does not end with the death of one dream. #StoriesOfHope #GodHasAPlan via @micheledmorin Share on XGod’s new morning mercies jogged Jeremiah out of bed every day to share a message that burned like fire. Living in persistence requires showing up. Even in perceived failure.
Showing Up with Fresh Creative Energy
Our little band of believers has gone on to host dinners and day camps. We’ve caroled in December and picnicked in July, always inviting our community to the party.
Sometimes they come.
We have great conversations.
They hear the Truth about a loving God who spread His arms wide to embrace the world.
Sometimes, on event day, we sound like Jeremiah:
“You never listened or paid the slightest attention.” (Jeremiah 25:3-4)
For Jeremiah to show up every day for 23 years with fresh creative energy for each day’s attempt took supernatural strength. I want to persevere in that same strength.
It takes holy persistence to press into a task when all around you wafts the stench of failure. #Disappointment #Failure #StoriesOfHope via @micheledmorin Share on XHolley Gerth, author of You’re Made for a God-Sized Dream, reminds me, however, that “success isn’t about outcome; it’s about obedience.” When the God-sized dream that we launch like a bottle rocket crashes onto the rocks below, we start over. Failure is not the end.
Committing the dream to God, we begin again with all the enthusiasm of an encore: “Lord, this is for you!”
The curtain rises.
By faith, we begin again.
Prayer for Today:
Lord, we trust you and your calling upon our lives, even when the results we see before us don’t line up with what he had expected. Help us to persevere in the hope that is based in your character and your steadfast love. Give us courage to learn from our failure, to sort through the wreckage of our dreams and discover the beauty that’s hidden in the ashes. Lord, you are our hope and you are our greatest treasure. May we respond to life’s disappointments in a way that puts your glory on display for a world that desperately needs your unconditional love and acceptance. Amen.
To view all of the topics in this series, check out our Stories of Hope page, and discover how others have chosen to live a life of hope, despite life’s greatest challenges!
Michele Morin reads, writes, gardens, and does life with her family on a country hill in Maine. She has been married to an unreasonably patient husband for nearly 30 years, and together they have four sons, two daughters-in-love, two grandchildren, and one lazy St. Bernard.
Michele loves hot tea and well-crafted sentences, poems that stop her in her tracks and days at the ocean with the whole family. She laments biblical illiteracy, advocates for the prudent use of “little minutes,” and finds joy in sitting at a table surrounded by women with open Bibles.
You can connect with Michele at the following links:
Blog| Facebook| Twitter| Instagram
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Thank you, Rachel, for the gift of this opportunity to share my story.
Trusting that the disappointment and the realization that God is not limited by my methods and plans will resonate with readers and provide hope in their own crash and burn situations.
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Thank YOU for this opportunity! I know that your exemplary message has resonated deeply with me, personally. I have certainly seen my own plans crash & burn a time or two, and I have also seen God’ miraculously pick up the pieces of those failed attempts, and turn them into a thing of sheer beauty! What a GOOD God we serve!
Thanks Michele for sharing this story and reminder not to quit. I have many crash and burn stories to my credit. For me, many of “my” plans crashed because they were “my” plans and I didn’t seek God’s will or input for the plan. Like Rachel said – God took the pieces of my destroyed plans and used them to make something beautiful. Other times, I was sure I heard God’s voice telling me to pursue a certain thing, only to have it fail. I believe those particular failures were used by God for a purpose. Thank you Rachel for hosting Michele. As you know, she’s an excellent writer and has such a special way of drawing her readers in.
I still cringe when I remember the details of past failures, and I think even this is a tool God uses to keep me in a more dependent stance toward him. Last Sunday I taught the story of the Gibeonites to my four year olds, and was reminded of Joshua’s crash and burn, God’s appointed successor to Moses and the faith-filled guy who chirped, “We can do this” like a choir boy to the tune of all the nay sayers’ songs! So, Abby, I guess we are in company with all God’s saints!
Michele, this is both a beautiful and encouraging post. I am grateful to be reminded this morning that obedience trumps failure every time. May we persevere even in the light of perceived failure as even there, God is at work. Thank you, Michele, for sharing this story. And thank you, Rachel, for opening your space for others to share. You both are a blessing!
Oh, I love this wisdom: “obedience trumps failure.” Yes, and so often our yardstick for measuring “success” is a broken one.
Thank you for bringing your words of encouragement here today.
Karen
I’m not sure why my comment is not showing up…strange. Here’s another try.
I love this message, Michele. It’s so comforting to know our story (and even our calling from the Lord) does not end with the death of one dream. Wonderful insight. I pray to model Jeremiah in persistence and showing up even if things look different than what I hoped.
Glad you persevered in commenting, Karen.
I learned so much from my time in the book of Jeremiah–particularly about persevering in an “impossible” ministry that looked for all the world like a fail, but in God’s eyes, Jeremiah was exactly where he was supposed to be.
I’m glad I found this post today. Sometimes we think failure is all in the numbers: how many showed up to the event, how many attend the church, or how many subscribers the blog has. And we think it’s in the results we can SEE. I think of Jeremiah often, because I can’t imagine seeing NO result of my work in my lifetime. I may not see the kind of progress I’d like, but I’ve been blessed to see a lot more than poor Jeremiah did.
Heavens, this is all so true and so convicting, Ashley. Very often, our measure of success is based in our need for affirmation or our prideful longing to be appreciated.
Thanks for sharing your good thoughts here!
Thank you, Michele, for sharing your story of perseverance with us. Sometimes when we persevere, we are rewarded, sometimes we are left with frustration, but the outcome is not the important thing. what we learn: obedience, tenacity, and resilience, ar the important things.
I’ve appreciated your writing along these same lines, Laurie. We can be so results oriented that we miss the importance of process and perseverance, and that’s often where the real learning and growth happen.
Oh, my heart hurts with those kind of disappointments, when we plan and execute for a great ministry event, then no one shows up. One of our local churches does oil change events and they do get good responses, but what works in one place is never a guarantee for what will work elsewhere. I’m glad you’ve been persistent in finding other things that will work in your beautiful Maine, Michele!
Well, I’m glad to know the idea wasn’t completely crazy! I had read (at the time) stories of other churches who had conducted this kind of outreach, and never dreamed it would be a complete wash out here.
As I said in the article, however, I’ve learned a lot about this particular culture over the past dozen or so years, and I see now that it was doomed to fail from the outset.
Thankful for all the lessons we learn–even the painful ones.
Prayed that prayer with you today, Michele. Thank you. laurensparks.net
So good to know we’re together in this process, Lauren!
This happens to me a lot. I think I love ideas and then they don’t love me back. I do want to crawl in a hole sometimes and eat a lot of apple crisp warm from the oven with ice cream and tell God, move on, there are others who can serve you better (obvi!) The message of persistence is a constant need (don’t stop, michele) and really it is all about faith. Which is what pleases Him most, after all. Faith and love. And Apple Crisp.
Grinning over your description: “love ideas and then they don’t love me back.” That’s so accurate!
How I would love to share an apple crisp with you (and ice cream!). I can see that it would truly be medicinal.
And I appreciate your reminder that faith is the issue that’s at stake, because so often our faith is grown during hard times.
One of the most helpful messages I heard in college was on failure. I wasn’t failing – I was making Cs (and even one D – blush) in my major classes, which felt an awful lot like failing to this diligent A and B student. But I did also experience colossal failures in other areas. We can learn so much from them – even more, sometimes, than we can from successes. They sure o hurt at the time, though!
Yes, ouch.
One of my regrets from college (and high school too, come to think of it) is choosing classes that I knew I could ace. Shucks, I missed out on so much by playing it safe. Better to get a C and learn something you didn’t already know than to get an A because you went into the class already knowing the material.
I can relate to the weeping prophet, you want others to see His love so badly, and they are no shows. For a long time I never even realized that I was grieving over these losses, I suppose because His hope is so much more powerful. I had some good plans, His were just better, and things are beautiful in His time.
Oh, how wonderful that we can rest in the knowledge that even when our plans don’t work out, God’s always do!
Michele, I do indeed resonate with this story; thank you for sharing it. As I face the launch of my book this fall, I needed to be reminded that success is about obedience rather than outcomes! Let’s link arms and go forward together in faith in God’s goodness.
And I’m really looking forward to the launch of that book! I saw it just recently in the IVP catalog, and what a great cover! I’m sure the inside is just as amazing.
1) I, too, have learned much from Jeremiah’s example. Have you read Eugene Peterson’s reflections on Jeremiah, titled Run with the Horses? You’re sure to appreciate his insights. 2) Funny you should mention that Holley Gerth quote about success not being about outcomes but about obedience. I have those words of hers copied on a Post-It and displayed in my desk area! 3) A big AMEN to your prayer, Michele. Indeed, “may we respond to life’s disappointments in a way that puts [God’s] glory on display for a world that desperately needs [His] unconditional love and acceptance.”
Run With the Horses was the book I used as my guide through Jeremiah, and what great insights!
I think I need to copy you and slap a Post-It up somewhere nearby as well.
And what a privilege to pray alongside you today, Nancy.
I can so relate! Failure is such a part of the process, though. But it stings. I’m so grateful that I serve a God who is pleased with the HEART behind my actions, rather than the results.
No question about it: failure DOES sting, and I think it takes a sinewy faith to keep trusting God when our plans don’t work out the way we expected. I’m trying to be more intentional about recording the ways in which God comes through for me so that I won’t forget his faithfulness when things look dark.
I needed this reminder. I’m wrestling a bit with my calling. Asking God a lot of questions and *trying* to listen for answers. I’m trying to strip away the things I’ve built, put in place, pursued in the current, and focus on what He wants for me (from me) right now. Thank you for putting words in this space.
Praying for you, Rebecca, right this minute: for clarity and peace in your purpose. I feel a certain kinship with what you’ve said, because I spend time in my garden every summer asking myself all the questions about how I invest my time and where my heart needs to have its tenderest focus. May we both live our way into accomplishing GOD’S purpose for us.
I am so glad you shared your story. We must keep pressing on in obedience.
It’s a huge encouragement to me, Maree, to hear from you, and yes–even when it seems counter-intuitive, we press on in faith that God has a plan, and we wait for him to reveal it to us.
I always find it frustrating when one dream dies or changes… but in the end it always turns out that God’s plan was best and the result was exactly what I needed all along.
So true! And for me also, the letting go of the old and the acceptance of the new takes a bit of adjustment and a few “Are you sure about this, God?” prayers. This is a growth point for me still, and I’m always helped by writing and teaching about the topics that are challenging for me.
Thanks for reading!
I read Eugene Peterson’s Run with the Horses this spring, and it made me see Jeremiah in a whole new way–and chide myself for the times I crash and burn and wonder what happened. Thank you for the reminder that God knows the future–we just have to move forward (even if it is flat on our faces 😉 ).
Jeremiah had perseverance down, and reading his story, no wonder he was known as “the weeping prophet.”
And I agree with you that moving forward flat on our faces may be the best posture we can assume!
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