I read a story the other day about Abraham Lincoln that really spoke to me. His senate race in 1858 in Illinois with Stephen Douglas was one of the hardest fought in the history of our country. The campaign had a series of exciting debates between the two men. The vote was very close on a rainy, cold election day. Stephen Douglas won the race.
When Lincoln was walking home later that night, he slipped on the wet ground and nearly fell in the mud. When he regained his balance, he thought of the similarity between that experience and his great disappointment that day. He said to himself, “It’s a slip, not a fall.” He was absolutely right. Two years later Abraham Lincoln was elected the sixteenth president of United States. Failure does not have to be final.
Michael Jordan was one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He observed, “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career, I’ve lost more than 300 games, and 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. Throughout my life and career I’ve failed and failed and failed again. And that’s why I succeed.”
Good words. If you are struggling with failure today, let me encourage you to remember this truth: failure does not have to be final. A winner is one who simply keeps on going.
May the words of the Apostle Paul strengthen us today: “This one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and pressing forward to what lies ahead.” (Philippians 3:13) Don’t give up!