Is It Failure When You Try?

Well, is it? We tell our kids its acceptable to give it your best try even if they are successful. We try telling that to our boss and we get fired or demoted. We tell our kids it's OK even when they do fail. We try to tell that to ourselves when we hit the car in front of us because we failed to yield the right of way. Coaches don't always grant us success when we make the error, whiff at the pitch, throw the interception, make the fumble, throw up an air ball. Neither do professors.
Last Tuesday we had a lengthy discussion with the guy who teaches Hebrew. He is not a professor and is still trying to figure out how to pursue his doctorate. He has made this very hard this quarter and he the work is starting to overwhelm us all. He simply says, "That's graduate work" and leaves it at that. Not my idea of a worthwhile teacher. He has the tendency to teach to those who are advanced in their study of Hebrew and leave the other students behind. I get very frustrated.
One of the things you are forced to do is choose which things to really study in preparation for the quiz we have each period. Tonight, I studied the wrong thing. I got to class to take the test and it had the one thing on it I was not prepared to do. I tried to do the translation . . . but I failed. And, trust me, it is failure even if you try in Hebrew! Don't worry, I haven't failed the course or bombed the whole thing. It's just one grade and it will get thrown out as my lowest. I am not beating myself up and crying in my soup! But sometimes, failure is just failure. It may spur you on to do better (and this one will) but it is still a failure. It doesn't define who I am and what I am about. Sometimes failure is just failure - and that's OK. Don't it let it get you down. I'm sure Jesus knows all about it. He is used to us failing. As long as we don't become complacent about it, my guess is it's all right. I will still succeed (even at Hebrew). Just pick it up, suck it up, and go on. Failure doesn't define you. And it won't define me. Amen.