Failure is something we all have to face from time to time.  How do we see ourselves when we fail?  How do others look at us?  How does God look at us?

As I have shared many times, the scriptures tell us to be “overcomers.”  Overcome what?  Problems, challenges, Satan, yes, but how about our own failures? Our kids face this in school.  We all face it.

I just read something to encourage all of us — from a great British inventor of today — James Dyson, inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner.  He shares his thoughts on the importance of perseverance.

“I made 5127 prototypes of my vacuum before I got it right.  There were 5126 failures.  But I learned from each one.  That’s how I came up with a solution.  So I don’t mind failure.  I’ve always thought that school children should be marked by the number of failures they’ve had.  The child who tries strange things and experiences lots of failures to get there is probably more creative.  We’re taught to do things the right way.  But if you want to discover something that other people haven’t, you need to do things the wrong way.  Our society admires instant brilliance.  I think quite the reverse.  You should admire the prerson who perseveres and slogs through and gets there in the end.”

This sounds a lot like Hebrews 12:1:  “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance (perseverance) the race that is set before us …”  Let us not be stopped by problems, challenges, Satan, or our own failures.  Let’s get up and keep going.