Welcome to the Club

You may have heard the saying, “If at first you don’t succeed, welcome to the club.”

In a Peanuts comic strip, Charlie Brown complains that his baseball team always loses. Lucy tries to console him: “Remember, Charlie Brown, you learn more from your defeats than you do from your victories.” Charlie Brown replies, “That makes me the smartest man in the world.”

Most of us know what it’s like to deal with failure. We’ve all been there at one time or another. We’re human—flesh and blood—and we make mistakes. And Lucy is right, there is much to learn.

But sometimes we don’t learn. Sometimes we look for others to blame. Sometimes we fall into despair or anger. Sometimes we don’t even want to acknowledge we’ve made a mistake. When we give in to these temptations, we learn nothing.

Gary Apple had a way of using humor to soften failure. He once said, “My goal was to retire when I reached 40. I’ve been partly successful—I reached 40.”

That’s a great start. When we can laugh at ourselves and admit defeat, we’re one step closer to moving beyond it. If we can then look honestly at the situation, chances are there will be much to learn.

I pray today for you and for me, that we would trust that God will meet us—even in the midst of our failures. In the brokenness of his own life, God spoke to the Apostle Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:1–10)

Let us pray: Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.