¶ Intro / Opening
Welcome to Reflect on This. Hello, I am Many years ago I To also discover important Remember, it's not about reasoning. But about real. with Jesus. So if you want to learn more
¶ Thomas Edison's Resilient Comeback
Thomas Edison invented the microphone, the phonograph, the incandescent light, talking movies, and more than one thousand other things. As of december nineteen fourteen, he had worked for ten years on a storage battery. This had greatly strained his finances. One evening a spontaneous combustion started in the film room of his manufacturing plant, where there were many flammable materials.
The fire quickly spread until it had engulfed ten of the buildings in his plant. Everything was destroyed. Edison was sixty seven years old. The inventor's twenty four year old son Charles searched frantically for his father. He finally found him calmly watching the fire, his face glowing in the reflection, his white hair blowing in the wind.
My heart ached for him, said Charles. He was sixty seven, no longer a young man, and everything was going up in flames. Would this tragic event break his spirit? The next morning Edison looked at the ruins and made a profound statement. There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew. Edison determined that he'd lost about nine hundred twenty thousand dollars, or about twenty three million dollars in today's dollars.
His plant's insurance covered only about a third of the total damage. But after just three weeks with a sizable loan from his friend Henry Ford, Edison refocused his work and got part of the plant up and running again. His employees worked double shifts and set to work producing more of his cylinder phonographs than ever. Edison and his team went on to make almost ten million dollars in revenue the following year.
This story is a powerful illustration of an important truth. Failures should not be feared. They are lessons for growth and change.
¶ Biblical Examples of Growth Through Failure
One biblical example of using failure as a lesson for growth and change is Moses. In the second chapter of Exodus, we read that Moses, who grew up in the Pharaoh's household, saw an Egyptian one day beating one of his kinsmen. In a moment of anger, he took revenge and killed the Egyptian. When Pharaoh heard about this, Moses fled for his life and settled in the land of Midian, where he lived for forty years.
During those years he had ample opportunity to reflect on those events, to learn from his mistakes, and to grow and mature. During that time Moses learned how to walk humbly before God and not take things into his own hands. It was a time of preparation for God's big assignment for him to lead his kinsmen out of Egypt and into freedom. Another biblical example is Joseph, whose story we read in the latter chapters of Genesis.
The twelfth child of Jacob, Joseph unwisely shared with his brothers the dreams that God had given him, dreams that seemed to foretell of him one day ruling over his brothers, and even his father. These brothers were already hostile toward him due to the favoritism that the father had shown toward him. Joseph must have noticed this, and yet he failed to demonstrate discernment and humility and told his brothers about not just one of the dreams, but both dreams.
As a result, his brothers arranged for him to be sold into slavery in Egypt, and worse yet, he soon ended up in prison because of false accusations. During those years as a slave and a prisoner, he had ample opportunity to reflect on those events, to learn from his mistakes, and to grow and mature. During that time Joseph learned how to walk humbly before God, thank him in all circumstances, and truly listen to God for guidance. This was a time of preparation for God's big assignment for him.
to create and lead a plan to store surplus food during seven years of great abundance. so that all the Egyptians and Joseph's family would have food during the subsequent seven years of famine.
¶ Applying Biblical Principles to Failure
The following verses list some biblical principles for wisely dealing with failure. In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. First Thessalonians five eighteen NASB. Application. Thank God in everything, including failure. For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for well being and not for calamity, in order to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah twenty nine eleven ISV
Application. Trust God to use our failures to fulfill His good plans for us. and we know that God causes all things to work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. ROMANS eight twenty eight NASB application. Trust that God causes all things, even failure, to work together for our good. Let me say it again, failures should not be feared. They are lessons for growth and change. Today I encourage you to reflect on this.
It is my hope that this episode will encourage and inspire Apply the script. And don't forget to check out the show notes for resources mentioned.