Success VS Failure: What Does the Bible Have to say about this | Israel

The speaker reflects on the concepts of success and failure and how they are perceived in the Bible. They discuss how failures should not define us and emphasize the importance of perseverance and learning from setbacks. The speaker also mentions the recent attacks in Israel and encourages trust in God despite difficult circumstances. They highlight the need to align our goals with God's will for success. So, I've been thinking a lot recently, especially recently, about success and failure and what does the Bible say about success versus failure and I know how disheartening it can be when you're in the job search and you're not getting good news and you feel like all your failures, all your previous failures are what define you and this past Sunday, my pastor at church had a message and in the message it was about success and failure and a lot of times we define ourselves by our failures and if you look back on times that you've failed, that's how you see yourself. I started thinking, why do we do that? Why do we torture ourselves that way? Then I started thinking about success and how it compares to failure and how often do we really think about the various successes that we've had in our life and if there's one thing I know that the Bible makes me feel, the Bible invokes this feeling of gratitude in me and so I know personally that if I'm living a grateful life, then I can recognize those successes and so today's episode is going to be a little bit different but I want to talk about how we navigate failure and success and give you some biblical wisdom for your career journey. So let's dive in. Hey there, you professional, ambitious, working mama. Welcome to the Christian Career Coach Podcast. Do you want to achieve remarkable success and experience unwavering faith in your professional journey? Do you find yourself up late at night searching for answers on how to make more money, maintain a positive work-life balance, and achieve exponential career growth? Do you wake up with big ambitious goals only to feel overwhelmed and uncertain when faced with setbacks, frustrations, and unexpected challenges? Well you're in the right place. I'm Susan Edwards and on this podcast we tackle those exact concerns head-on. We dive deep into strategies to propel your income, accelerate your career growth, and help you align your work with your faith. So if you're tired of feeling stuck and you're ready to embrace extraordinary success, unwavering faith, and a purposeful life, then join me on the Christian Career Coach Podcast. Together we'll navigate the obstacles, find clarity amidst chaos, and unlock your true potential. Get ready for inspiration, actionable advice, and powerful insights that will empower you to conquer your fears and create the fulfilling career you've always dreamed of. Let's walk this transformative journey together. Welcome to the Christian Career Coach Podcast, where ambition meets faith and your dreams find their wings. Hey amazing listeners, I want to share an exciting opportunity that can help you thrive in your career while aligning with your Christian values. As a devoted Christian Career Coach, I offer personalized one-on-one coaching sessions designed to empower you to achieve remarkable career growth, maintain a healthy work-life balance, and increase your salary. If you find yourself yearning for more money, missing certifications, or lacking certain job qualifications, I'm here to guide you through the process. With my expertise and faith-based approach, we'll address these challenges head-on and help you overcome them. Together, we'll develop strategies to bridge the gaps and position you for success. Work-life balance is crucial, especially for Christian moms with ambitious career goals. I understand the importance of maintaining harmony between your personal and professional life. Through my coaching program, you'll learn practical techniques to prioritize what truly matters, ensuring you can excel in your career while still nurturing your family and faith. Now let's talk about career growth and the desire for a higher salary. I am here to help equip you with the tools and insights you need to advance in your profession and increase your earning potential. With personalized guidance and a faith-based perspective, we'll unlock opportunities for growth, help you negotiate your worth, and create a path that aligns with your aspirations and Christian principles. To take the first step towards transforming your career, I invite you to book a free 30-minute career clarity call with me. During this call, we'll dive into your goals, address any obstacles, and explore how Christian career coaching can accelerate your journey. Don't let missing certifications or qualifications, work-life balance concerns, or stagnant salary hold you back. Together, we'll navigate these challenges and unlock your God-given potential. To book your free career clarity call, simply visit my website at www.ForwardsCareerServices.com. Let's embark on this transformative journey towards more money, career growth, work-life balance, and a higher salary, all while staying rooted in your Christian faith. I can't wait to connect with you and guide you towards the abundant career you deserve. Visit www.ForwardsCareerServices.com today and take the lead towards a fulfilling and prosperous professional life. Hey friends, today, of course, we are talking all about failure and success and my heart is really heavy. So this episode is going to be quite different than what you're used to, but with everything that is happening in Israel and the attacks on the Israelis and these women and children, not that men deserve to die either, but the attacks on just completely defenseless, innocent citizens, for no reason, such hate crimes, my heart is really heavy and has been for this past, coming up on almost a week now. A lot of things have happened, of course, in the last week and it all circles back to failures versus successes. And when you think about failure and success in your career and your job search, I want to tie this into the timeless wisdom that is found in the Bible. I also want to mention that we are not defined by our failures and God does not see us through our failures. Once you've repented and you've talked to God about maybe some of those failures, maybe those times of your life that were a little bit more shameful, maybe embarrassing even, once you go to God with that, he clears you of it and he doesn't want you to continue to relive your failures, nor do I, which is why we want to talk about our successes as well. So when you think about your failures, what's the reality of your failure? It's inevitable. We are going to encounter setbacks and failures and if anyone says they were able to obtain success without failures, I wouldn't believe them. The Bible actually acknowledges the reality of failure and it emphasizes the importance of perseverance in the face of challenges. Look up Proverbs 24 16, it says that for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again. This is a verse that I have literally been trying to teach my son who's in first grade now and really starting to get involved in sports and starting to understand that he may not be first in everything and I'm trying to teach him that it's okay to not be first in everything. Just every time you fail, you get back up again. You don't give up. You persevere through that. And so this verse helps to encourage resilience and it helps to understand that setbacks are not the end of the road, but they're stepping stones to growth. That's the reality of failure. That's really what failure is. It's a stepping stone for growth. I've even in recent years changed my vocabulary to not even use the term failure. I say opportunity because it really is an opportunity to learn something. So anytime I don't get my way, things don't go my way, I really look at it as an opportunity to learn something. And I encourage you to do the same thing. When you can learn from failure, it gives you a shift in your perspective, which is something that the Bible encourages. How can we view failure as something that teaches rather than a roadblock? Rather than going into that victim mindset and that pity party of woe is me, I just keep failing, I'm a loser. The Bible does encourage a perspective shift. When you get to Romans chapter 8 verse 28, it assures us that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him. This means that even in our failures, God can work for our ultimate good. Joseph's story in Genesis serves as a powerful example of this truth as he had a lot of setbacks, but eventually led to a position of great influence and impact. This one hits hard, especially this week, because the Jewish people, the Israelis are being attacked and they're being attacked just for being Jewish, for what their beliefs are. I know a lot of times you want to think, why would God let something like this happen? Why is this happening? How could he let this happen to babies and children and families and innocent women and girls? You have to put your trust in him. You have to remember that he knows what's happening right now. He is in control. Even though that day might have been a failure, what can you learn from that failure? What can Israel learn from that failure that allowed Hamas to break into their country, to even get through the border? If you can get to this point of learning from your failures, then you can start to see these opportunities as forms of success and not necessarily going there blindly, but trusting your faith and knowing that your faith is going to carry you through to success. While you navigate through the challenges of your career, it is essential to acknowledge that success too has its place in the biblical narrative. Proverbs 16.3 advises us, Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. This verse encourages us to align our goals with God's will, trusting that success will come when we commit our efforts to him. I have personally experienced this, especially with my career coaching business and niching down because everybody's not the perfect customer for me. Everybody's not the right fit. I'm not the right fit for everybody, but being able to niche down and becoming the Christian career coach and being able to incorporate my faith and my belief in God into my business brings me so much joy and fulfillment, and I have begun to see the fruits of my labors in putting that focus and recognizing the role of faith in my success. So I would encourage you to do the same. Commit your plans. Commit to whatever you're doing to the Lord, whatever you do. He will establish your plans. He will give you that next step. He will lead you down the right path. When you have a lot of ambition, you can sometimes be seen as smug or maybe, what's the word, arrogant even, and you really have to learn how to balance humility with ambition because ambition is not inherently wrong, and if you're listening to this podcast, you likely have a pretty high amount of ambition. You want to go somewhere in your career. You want to be something. You want to make something of your name, of yourself. You want to be able to grow and to prove yourself to the world that you know your stuff, you know what you're doing, you can do what you set your mind to do, and so ambition really is not inherently wrong, but the Bible does warn against the pitfalls of pride, so remember that getting there and achieving success can certainly create a prideful attitude, but you have to be careful about it. Proverbs 16, 18 cautions, pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. As you strive for success in your career, maintain humility and recognize that your abilities and opportunities are gifts from God that can prevent us from stumbling on the path to success. Never forget where your gifts came from. We were all born with some kind of special talent, some kind of special gift, and that gift was given to us before we even took our first breath. Somebody knew what that gift was, and that's a three-letter word that begins with a capital G. Lastly, when it comes to failures and successes, your community, the people that you surround yourself with is extremely important. The Bible emphasizes the importance of community and seeking wise counsel. Another verse from Proverbs, Proverbs 15, 22 says, plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors, they succeed. In your career journey, surround yourself with mentors, colleagues, and friends that can provide guidance and support that's crucial for navigating not just your successes, but your failures. Go to your circle of people. Surround yourself with a community that is going to be able to provide that support in times of failures, that guidance in times of success and failures, and people that help make you better. So, in conclusion, in your career pursuit, the Bible offers timeless wisdom for embracing failure as a stepping stone to growth, learning from setbacks, aligning your ambitions with God's will, practicing humility and success, and seeking the support of a wise community. As you navigate your career path, I hope that you find inspiration and guidance in the pages of Scripture. I hope that every day, and not just when you're job searching, but even in your career, even when you are having major success, you're getting promotions, everyone loves you at work, you're making a lot of money, you're getting pay raises that are higher than your colleagues, and things are just going your way, keep in mind what you're doing is a result of who you are, and who you are is something that God knew before you were. So, thank you for joining me today on today's episode. This was a tough one to do because I see what's happening over in Israel, and I just see it as a failure, yet in the back of my mind, I know that God knows the outcome of this, and whether or not this is as predicted, if this is the part where it gets worse before He returns, then so be it. We were all put here in this time for a reason, and so I know that God has the ultimate plan, He will prevail, Israel will not be defeated. I deep down wish that those that are living in the Gaza Strip and Palestine, those folks that don't preach hate, that they could get along with the Israelites. I hope that this is just a group of people that are truly terrorists, the same way that ISIS is a group of terrorists, and I honestly hope that everyone can join together to fight the terrorists. So, regardless of the faith that you practice, I would hope that differences could be put aside and that you can come together to fight a common enemy, with that common enemy being Hamas and ISIS and Hezbollah, these groups that just want to kill and murder babies and rape women. My heart, my heart is breaking, and I hope that Israel can come out of this, I hope this doesn't turn into something bigger, but I will continue to pray, I hope you continue to pray, and until next time, take care, and God bless. Hey there, Ambitious Mama, I hope you enjoyed today's episode of the Christian Career Coach Podcast. If it resonated with you and provided valuable insights, I'd love for you to take just 30 seconds and share this episode with a fellow Christian professional who may benefit from the career advice and inspiration. Together, we can uplift and empower more women on their professional journeys, and don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode. Oh, and one more thing that would mean the world to me. Could you leave a review? Your feedback and support light me up and let me know that this podcast is making a positive impact in your life. As we continue this journey together, remember that you're not alone. I understand the joys and challenges of being an ambitious mama, and I'm here to cheer you on every step of the way. So march your calendar, because I'll meet you back here next Tuesday for another episode filled with valuable insights and practical tips. Until then, keep chasing your dreams, balancing your roles with grace, and shining brightly in your career and family life.