But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
–2 Corinthians 12:9
There was a man who came home one day and told his wife about a million-dollar idea he had. He assured her it would work, and they would only need to invest $5,000 to make it happen. The wife was hesitant, but she went along and hoped for the best.
Six weeks later, the man came home again and said, “Honey, I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that my idea didn’t work out and we lost the money we invested. But the good news is that my new million-dollar idea is different from the last one!”
Perhaps you’ve noticed that we usually learn far more from our defeats than we do from our victories. In fact, defeats are completely meaningless unless we actually learn something from them and change the way we make decisions. When you look at defeats that way, they really are invaluable.
As much as we love to win, we shouldn’t be discouraged by defeat. It’s in those times that we learn the greatest lessons in life. And the greatest lesson is this: we are dependent on God for the result of every victory and loss. Learn from your defeats, look ahead, and lean on Him!
WHEN YOU ENCOUNTER DEFEAT, LEARN, LOOK AHEAD, AND LEAN ON GOD.
