THE Bible contains many instances in which failures have been turned into stepping-stones to success. In most of these cases the failure was merely the preliminary to a successful bout with evil.
In the story of Joshua we find a vivid example of this. Upon the death of Moses, Joshua became the leader destined to guide the children of Israel into the Promised Land. He had singular success until he turned his forces on the city of Ai. We read that the men of Ai gave the first defeat to the Israelites. When Joshua heard this, he fell on his face. His fear because of this failure made him wish to be back across the Jordan. But the Lord spoke to him (Josh. 7: 10, 11): "Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them."
Then Joshua arose to find the sin of Israel. And when he had discovered it— the failure to obey a command not to loot —he cast out the offending member and once again attacked the city of Ai. This second attack was successful; the children of Israel conquered Ai.
The life of Jesus is an instance. What seemed to be a devastating setback was turned into a glorious victory. At the time of his crucifixion, one might have said he was a failure. He was in the hands of his enemies and deserted by his friends. Evil must have seemed very real and triumphant to his followers at that time. Yet this socalled defeat was a stepping-stone to the glory of the resurrection and the ascension. No one has ever influenced the lives of men as Jesus has influenced them.
Unfortunately, not all men are able to handle failure in the same manner as did the Saviour. There are those who seem almost to be buried by failures. Discouragement so overwhelms them that they never again rise to victory.
One who understands the teachings of Christian Science is never satisfied until failures are used as opportunities to uncover and destroy the error handling his thinking and thus are turned into stepping-stones to success. Mrs. Eddy's words in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" show that she understood the ability of her followers to do this. She writes (pp. 149, 150), "Remember, thou canst be brought into no condition, be it ever so severe, where Love has not been before thee and where its tender lesson is not awaiting thee."
The great question, then, is how to receive blessings from mistakes or reversals. To uncover the specific error involved in a failure takes prayerful searching of one's aims, motives, and ambitions. In some cases hatred, envy, or jealousy may have been indulged. To rule sin out of one's consciousness is to rule the effects of sin out of one's experience. One does this through understanding that man is never the victim of hatred and its conspirators, but is the expression of Love, God.
Or perhaps fear shakes one's confidence in the ability of divine Love to meet every need. At times fear appears to paralyze right thinking and acting. But Mrs. Eddy reassures us that "fear never stopped being and its action" (Science and Health, p. 151). By applying this statement to himself, a person may regain his confidence in God's power, and fear vanishes. All the fear in the world cannot stop God's law from constantly operating to save mankind from sin, disease, and death.
World pressures of a materialistic way of living sometimes blind one to his duties and obligations. It is well for one to determine whether or not he is giving in to some of the worldly pressures for popularity, success, and wealth.
Whatever the failure, and regardless of the apparent cause, Christian Science teaches all to look to God to find the only remedy. Mrs. Eddy is very clear on the cause of failures. She writes in Science and Health (p. 149): "The rule and its perfection of operation never vary in Science. If you fail to succeed in any case, it is because you have not demonstrated the life of Christ, Truth, more in your own life,— because you have not obeyed the rule and proved the Principle of divine Science."
The second step lies in our casting out the offending sin that has brought defeat. We do this in the way our Leader tells us —by demonstrating the Christ, Truth, more in everyday life and by obeying the rule and proving the Principle of divine Science. This is a purifying process and can be accomplished only with great humility and willingness to forsake human faults and frailties. The proud and arrogant find great difficulty in facing their errors.
The last step is to apply spiritual truths to the problem again. If it is a problem that has passed and cannot be reworked, then a similar set of circumstances may arise to enable one to prove to oneself that previous mistakes have been corrected. Remember, God does not fail; therefore man, the perfect idea of God, cannot be a failure. Success in Truth is always assured.
A Christian Scientist who lost a child found that the experience left her with an intense fear for her other children. Feelings of panic and defeat nearly overwhelmed her. This went on for several years, even though the children had many healings and relied entirely on Christian Science treatment for all things. One night one of the children had a concussion as the result of a fall and cried most of the night. The mother wept harder than the child and was sent from the room because her intense fear caused so much disturbance.
The child was healed, but the mother realized that she had to take steps to overcome her fear if she was to have any peace while rearing her children. She remembered the story of Joshua at Ai. The challenge God made to Joshua challenged her too: "Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?" She became aware of the fact that the Principle of Christian Science no more fails to operate than does the principle of mathematics. If there is a mistake in a mathematical computation, it is made by a human being—and the same is true of a mistake in the application of Science. As this fact became more clear to her thought, the fear began to vanish. Finally, about a year later, this same child was in another accident involving a fall much more serious than the first one. The evidence of concussion was again present, but this time there was no panic. The mother worked prayerfully alone with the child throughout the night. She had perfect confidence, and the healing was complete the next day.
Gratitude for the child's healing was great, but it was not until sometime later that, looking back on this experience, the mother knew she had been freed completely from the fear that had been with her for so long in regard to her children.
Each rugged experience should humble, not humiliate, one. Indeed, through the struggles that sometimes beset men, they find the opportunity to prove that they love God supremely and are worthy to receive His blessing. To those who stand stanchly in the truth, never giving up the battle until the blessing comes, failures will become stepping-stones to spiritual success.
