It was Winston Churchill who said, “Success is never final and failure is never fatal.”
The fragility of success is certainly true in the business world. For years, the example of the buggy whip manufacturing business was cited as an example of a going concern which suddenly lost its market. Lead pencils and liquid ink pens gave way to ball point pens, and carbon paper is no longer popular. The president of Western Union was once offered all the rights to the telephone for a mere $100,000 and he turned it down flat, describing it as a useless toy.
Many people had important jobs in those industries, and no doubt some were smug that their success was final.
It is encouraging to realize that failure need not be fatal. There is a statue of a boll weevil erected in its honor by the farmers of Georgia. The boll weevil was destroying cotton crops in that state. As a result, the farmers were forced to turn to growing peanuts which turned out to be much more profitable. Failure often is the signal that opportunity lies in another direction.
When we take this consideration to a higher level, we see its truth in scripture. We read of king Nebuchadnezzar who, “When his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.” His success was not final nor his failure fatal, for in the end, the king said, “My reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me.”
It is important to recognize that often the reverses that come are outside a person’s control. That is frequently the case today in the business world. When the two largest banks in California merged, Bank of America took over Security Pacific and the latter name disappeared, as did the jobs of thousands of highly paid, qualified, long-term employees.
We can apply this principle in our own lives. Our lives have peaks and valleys. When things are going well, we need to realize that this condition is not necessarily permanent. When things have taken a down turn, we need to take comfort that this, too, shall pass.
Paul tells us that he had to learn something which is important for us to learn as well. He put it this way: “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased and I know how to abounds everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.”
Paul here is teaching us that success is never final, failure is never fatal and that we also can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
We have such a great advantage over the people of the world when they lose everything. We believe God knows every detail of our needs and has promised never to try us beyond that which we are able to bear.
No wonder, then, we take courage in our light affliction which endures but for a moment and cry out with Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One