The Thankful Project: November 6th
The Thankful Project: November 6th: A Failure
Failure. It's a tough word to swallow. Yikes. Failure has such a negative connotation. By definition it is "the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and being viewed as the opposite of success". OUCH. I don't think anyone wants to encounter failure, to be called a failure, to feel like a failure, but sometimes God requires us to encounter a setback in life.
"A minor setback is an exquisite set up for a major come back, remember that."
At 16-years-old I started working at a Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Shop. Within a year or so I was promoted to a Shift Leader and was responsible for managing the people under my shift...100% of which were older than me! It took a little getting used to for my former coworkers to look at me in a leadership role but eventually I earned their respect. I also had to prove to my Manager that I was capable of this position. Well probably a year or so into that new position I worked a closing shift with one other guy. Once a week we had to 'defrost' the freezer which means we had to take all the ice cream out of the cases and with a hose and spades scrape down the whole freezer. Then we had to dry it off completely and reload the freezer with all the ice cream. It was such an exhausting job and it took over an hour after closing to get it finished.
Well the two of us did both of the cases, finished up cleaning and left. The next morning I opened the shop and I came in like normal, about a half hour before the shop opened and turned on all the lights and started to get everything set up for the day. I went over to the freezers and flipped on the lights and that's when I noticed it: there wasn't any ice cream. In place of where the ice cream was, was puddles of melted ice cream all over the case. We had forgotten to turn the freezers BACK on before we left. All night long the ice cream had defrosted and melted, soaking through their boxes and leaving behind a soupy ice cream mess. I immediately felt sick. Even worse, I had to call my Manager and explain to her what happened.
It was so embarrassing and worst, it was hundreds of dollars literally down the drain. You better bet that from then on, I triple checked that the freezers were turned back on after a defrost night. It was the first epic failure I had at a job and it definitely left an impression. I learned that even when life seems boring, tasks get tedious, and you're rushing to finish, it pays to take a moment and slow down. It taught me the importance of double checking work and to make sure things get done correct the first time.
That story translates to our spiritual walk as well. I know sometimes I hurry to get done with something when God is calling me to slow down. I go 100 miles an hour trying to cram as much stuff as I can in one day and sometimes I miss things or I double book myself. Even when we do face failures or hardship in our lives God says to pray and never give up. Don't let your struggles and failures get the best of you. Take the trials and hardships and find the positive in them (sometimes it's harder than others). God is loving and full of grace, he can take that mess or struggle and turn it into a lesson just don't give up.
"Always pray and NEVER GIVE UP" Luke 18:1
