There were two paintings hung side by side on the walls of a home.
One painting was of the figure in Jesus’ story of the rich man whose crops produced so abundantly that he decided to pull down his barns and build bigger ones. But the Lord said to him, “Eat, drink, and have a great time, for tomorrow you die.” The caption under this painting said: “The Failure That Looked Like Success.”
The other painting, the companion painting, was of Jesus dying on the cross, the crown of thorns on his head, his chin drooping against his chest, the crude nails in his hands, and all his friends off somewhere in hiding. The caption under this picture said: “The Success That Looked Like Failure.” A God Provide
We would all like to be successful and fulfilled as persons. It is one of the dreams with which our culture imbues us. But when we listen to Jesus, we realize that success and fulfillment don’t really come the way we often expect them to. They aren’t the direct result of anything we can do to attain them.
Instead, they’re a gift from God and they simply happen when we are doing the right things with our lives. In God’s eyes it is a whole lot better to be a success that looks like failure than a failure that looks like success.
Thanks to John Killinger
What success once looked like failure in your life?
