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Your ‘failure’ equates to God’s success

Psalms 145:14 

“The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down” 

Recently I’ve been having a few conversations with people on some of their dreams and aspirations in life. Some vary but most of them consist of some form of material position: the ability to buy a house, and have a fancy car, or never have to worry about bills. These are all things I’m sure all of us want, but what happens if we don’t achieve them? Are we less of a person if these things are out of reach? Are we...failures? 

Failure is a concept that has been very prominent in my life. If you have grown up in a household that is similar to mine, you may have had expectations placed on you. This may be by your parents, maybe an aunt or an uncle, or even yourself. I’m sure all of us want a certain lifestyle for ourselves, and with that comes a standard we hold ourselves to, which isn’t inherently bad, but with the absence of God it can overwhelm us when those said standards aren’t fulfilled. If we base our whole lives on fulfilling worldly pursuits, we will only get worldly rewards: which we know are temporary and short-lasted because it’s not concerned with God.  

Looking more closely at the verse, we see that when we fall, God lifts us up. However, we see this treatment being quite exclusive. It’s only those “who are bowed down” to Him, that He lifts: it takes submission and surrendering. In practicality, you can only be lifted up by someone if you are in close proximity to them. The same applies with God. If we set our standards and expectations through Him, not only does failure not exist, but it also means that when we do fall, He will be right there to pick us up.  

We live lives trying too hard to avoid something that isn’t even real. All failure consists of is not achieving the expectation we have placed in our minds: but whose expectations should our lives be constructed by: us or the all-knowing God? 

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