Failure

You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. 1 Thessalonians 2:1

Failure... it’s not a favourite word for any of us, is it? Failure is something we fear, whether we’re talking of exams or relationships or anything else.

Have you ever tried to do something for God, only to end up thinking you had failed? Perhaps you offered to help in the children's or young people's work, and it just didn't seem to work out? Perhaps you took on some venture in evangelism, and it fell flat? Perhaps you started a house-group or Bible study, and nobody much turned up?

Yes? Well, be encouraged! It seems that something similar had happened to Paul. Why else would he need to assure the Thessalonian church that his visit to them "was not a failure"? Somebody, presumably, was saying that it was a failure. Or perhaps doubts had come creeping into his own mind that he had had to think and pray through.

Why might somebody think his visit to Thessalonica was a waste of time?

Well, to find out you need to go back to Acts 17:1-10, where Luke tells us the story. 

Putting it very briefly, Paul and Silas seem to have spent about three weeks there. Certainly, they did succeed in winning quite a few converts (verse 4), but the town as a whole turned against them, and in the end they suffered the humiliation of having to beat a hasty retreat under cover of darkness (verse 10). No doubt some of his enemies in the town were delighted: "Huh, he didn't last long, did he! He comes here with his new-fangled ideas, causes a lot of trouble and commotion, and then runs away with his tail between his legs! So much for the mighty apostle Paul...".

But the fact is that Paul did leave behind a group of believers who went on to become an established church (even if it was one with some rather worrying ideas). It wasn't long before he was writing to them what we now know as Paul's Letters to the Thessalonians.

Here's a great truth, but one which we often fail to drive into our thick skulls: God judges "success" and "failure" in a very different way from the non-Christian world - indeed, in a very different way from the way we Christians sometimes do. It simply isn’t all about big numbers and the trappings of success. 

Wasn't there a time when even Jesus "could not do any miracles..." because of the people's lack of faith (Mark 6:5)? Was that “failure”? 

I don't imagine that Paul was happy for one moment about having to "do a moonlight", but the fact is that his seemingly unsatisfactory time in Thessalonica bore some real fruit - and lasting fruit at that.

The Bible suggests to us that nothing you ever seek to do genuinely for the glory of God will ever be in vain. Yes, you may have been misguided in what you tried to do. You may have made mistakes and "messed up". You may even be right to feel a bit guilty - perhaps you were plain wrong to try what you tried; it was arrogant and bull-headed. Face facts: there may be serious lessons to be learned!

But if you acted in true sincerity of heart, seeking only God's glory, then God will turn your efforts to at least some kind of "success".

So... you feel a bit of failure? The devil is whispering into your ear "That wasn't much use, was it"? Don't worry! Just seek to do God's holy will - and leave him to judge what is "success" and what is "failure". 

Father, I confess that there have been times when I seem to have tried so hard but achieved so little. Please help me to leave the judgement of success or failure solely to you, and not be cast down by other people's reactions - or by my own negative thoughts. Amen.