Spiritual Spinach: Bible shows how people can overcome failure
It was a dismal failure.
Or at least that's the way I saw it.
It happened during a big flood in 1984 when I was a young reporter. That Saturday morning I took a camera to Scribner and met with the highway superintendent. He drove me around the outskirts of town, then we toured the flooded community by airboat. I returned to Fremont, got my infant son Michael from the baby sitter and - with him by my desk - wrote a story for our newspaper. I turned in my flood story and film and went home.
There was just one problem. Sort of.
Unbeknownst to me, another reporter and photographer had gone to Scribner and interviewed people at a makeshift relief station. That reporter also wrote a story.
His story along with the photographer's pictures ended up on the front page of the next edition. My story went on an inside page toward the back. None of my photos made it in.
The editor said it was good that I went to Scribner, but I ached with defeat. The other reporter's story was clearly deemed better. He'd covered a flood before and knew where to go. He'd gotten good comments from people at the relief station.
He also had a more precise height of the flood waters as he and the photographer had trudged through them. From the outskirts of town I couldn't tell how deep the water was and never considered wading through it.
Anyway, for more than two decades I viewed that situation as a failure. It didn't matter that my story made it into the paper.
And I didn't consider something else.
Right before the flood, I'd written some stories about people who'd survived an area flood - 40 years earlier. Those articles ran along with the 1984 flood stories. Not in the front of the paper, but still inside.
Looking back, I believe the Lord guided me to people who'd survived that flood in 1944. The stories made a nice addition to the paper, especially in light of that most recent deluge.
But back in 1984 I didn't appreciate God's timing.
It was as if I had a "not good enough" sign around my neck - at least in my eyes.
I would face other workplace struggles, but God was faithful. He brought me through hardship and discouragement to satisfaction at my job.
Recently, I celebrated my 30th anniversary at the Fremont Tribune. It's hard to believe three decades have passed, but I've learned a few things along the way.
For one, I appreciate the tough times - not because they were fun to go through, but because I see how God is using them today. I can empathize with people who experience disappointment, criticism or that sense of falling short in the workplace.
Better yet, I can tell them that there is hope. I know what it is to have a positive turnaround at work.
Now, I must say that I've worked - and still work - with some mighty fine and talented people. But at one time or another, most people know what it is to have their mettle tested in this fiery furnace we call the workplace.
Many have known defeat and failure.
Which brings me to the question: How do we define failure?
In his marvelous book, "Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success,"* leadership expert John C. Maxwell provides lessons in resiliency and perseverance.
Maxwell teaches that failure is unavoidable, but it's how we perceive and respond to it that makes the difference. He contends that there is no achievement without failure.
"Get a new definition of failure," he writes. "Regard it as the price you pay for progress."
Maxwell says successful people are those who have failed, but don't regard themselves as failures. His book is packed with inspiring stories of those who've overcome multiple business failures and setbacks to become successful.
I was amazed by the story of Truett Cathy, who lost two brothers in an airplane crash, had a restaurant destroyed by fire and then needed surgeries that kept him in bed for months.
Other business owners might have given up. Not Cathy. While stuck in bed, he developed an idea.
Today, Cathy - founder of the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain - is credited with inventing the chicken sandwich in the fast food industry.
As I marvel at these modern success stories, I'm reminded of the trials that Bible times leaders faced, mistakes they made and obstacles they overcame. Here are just a few:
* Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and later sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit. After more than two years in prison, Joseph interpreted the dreams of Egypt's Pharaoh and became second-in-command. (He eventually was reunited with his brothers and forgave them.) Throughout the years, God repeatedly helped Joseph, but he didn't enjoy overnight success. He was sold into slavery at 17 and didn't become a ruler until age 30.
* Moses killed a man and fled into the desert where he herded sheep for 40 years before God called him - at age 80 - to lead Israelite slaves out of Egypt. Moses faced many trials, but was part of many miracles and died a revered leader.
* Daniel was taken captive to Babylon, where he tactfully dealt with more than one challenging boss and rose to prominence. Daniel had so much integrity that jealous officials couldn't find fault with him and had to conspire to get him thrown into a lions' den. God faithfully rescued Daniel, whose story encourages modern-day people facing "lions" that can range from tough business competitors to fears that may temporarily derail even the most stalwart of souls.
Besides these stories let me mention Esther, an orphan who became a queen and risked her life to save her people from annihilation by a very evil man. Do you think it was easy for her to decide: "If I perish, I perish"?
There is the Apostle Paul - a former persecutor of Christians who became one of the most influential missionaries of his time and whose writings fill much of the New Testament.
Think you've had rough times at work? Consider Paul who wrote: "Five times I received from the Jews the 40 lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea ... I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles ... I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food...." (2 Corinthians 11:24-27.)
Despite all that, Paul loved his job and his Savior - Christ Jesus, who provides the best example of overcoming obstacles.
Religious leaders probably thought Jesus had failed as they smugly watched him die on the cross. People, who'd hoped Jesus would deliver them from Roman oppression, most likely saw that as a failure, too. Even his own disciples may have wondered - at first - if their futures had died at the cross.
Yet, believers today see the cross not as a tragedy, but as a triumph because after the cross came the resurrection. And as Christians, we know Jesus succeeded in securing eternal life for those who put their faith in him.
Christ continues to succeed in bringing hope to the downtrodden, peace to the conflicted and - for people like me - a whole new way of looking at failure and success.
* "Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success," by John C. Maxwell, published by Thomas Nelson, Inc., in 2000.
Tammy McKeighan is news editor of the Fremont Tribune. She can be reached at 402-721-5000, Ext. 1433 or via email at tammy.mckeighan@lee.net.
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