Failure hurts. No one wants to fail. The media continually portrays the extremes around us. They build up success stories and then jump on those who fall from grace. We are taught to believe that there are two options success or failure. We see ourselves as successful or a failure.

As a parent, I want to rescue my children, so they don’t have to experience the pain of failure. The problem is we all fail. Everyone experiences failure in various ways and points throughout life. There is no avoiding it. Yet, I work really hard to avoid it, deny it and run away from it. That is a disservice to myself and my children.

If you follow this blog regularly, you are aware that my house has been through a seemingly endless residing project. It is finally finished. My husband and his father did the majority of the work. Watching them face frustration and failure daily taught me what it really means to rely on God as this Scripture tells us.

 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4 NIV).

Day after day, I would come home from work with anticipation of progress and success on a huge project. Most days I came home to two exhausted and frustrated men, who had experienced some sort of failure throughout the day. Inevitably, they would be researching how to fix a problem, or making a plan on how to redo something they had to take down because it didn’t work. I didn’t know how to help them other than to say hire someone.

They chose perseverance. They continued to experience some success and then another failure. The stone work was almost the last straw as they would put some up and take it back down. Their willingness to repeatedly face trials ended with a beautiful finished house.

Quitting or giving up was never an option for them. It will serve as a reminder for me and hopefully our children on the value of perseverance and the gift of pushing through failure. Their tenacity inspires and encourages me. I don’t know that they considered their trials pure joy. In fact, I’m pretty sure they didn’t. Their faith carried them through and is serving as an example of what we can accomplish with God.

God calls us to lean on Him through all of our trials, failures, and successes. It is in the trials and failures that we stretch and grow to become more than we thought possible. Through that perseverance we gain more of God’s character within us. That’s a trade off I will take. Will you? Are  you willing to let God use your trials to transform you into His likeness?

Has God given you strength to persevere? Share your story here.