FFTF Episode 2 -Analyze - When Plans Don’t Work Out
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Speaker: [00:00:00] Welcome to From Failure to Fulfillment, a podcast where we explore how God redeems our setbacks and shapes us through them. I'm your host, coach Drew, and together we'll discover how faith can turn even the hardest of moments into stepping stones of growth. Have you ever made a plan that completely fell apart, even though you gave it your best shot?
Surprise, surprise, I've been there. And in those moments, it's as if life itself is mocking you, but part of growing towards fulfillment is learning to analyze failure, not just react to it. The Bible says in second Corinthians 13 verse five, examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. That means reflection is a part of discipleship.
Today I'll share a story of when my hope-filled plans crumbled, and what I discovered when I stopped criticizing [00:01:00] myself and started analyzing the situation, my choices, and the deeper lessons God had for me. Welcome to from Failure to Fulfillment, where failure isn't the end. It's an acronym for growth Friend.
Analyze, investigate, learn, understand, regroup, and execute. I'm your host, Dr. Andrew Blackwood, also known as Coach Drew, and together we'll discover how God transforms our failures into steps toward Christ-like fulfillment. Do you believe in angels? I do. Now, when I was about eight years old, sitting by the gumball machine at the grocery store, it was no frills.
If you have a no frills, you know what I'm talking about. They've been around for a while. Well, here I was sitting and a woman came up to me and she looked at me and said, are you a pastor? I remember staring back at her in confusion because I knew what a [00:02:00] pastor was, but I was just a boy. And she goes on to say, well, you better hurry up and walked away.
That moment has stayed with me for my entire life. For years, I carried that sense of a calling, calling to pastoral ministry, but I didn't quite fit the mold of the church that I grew up in. My voice is pretty calm. It's not the kind of voice that makes people run the aisles. And eventually I learned, and I, I, I accepted myself and I stepped into a role of counseling because I realized I had a pastor's heart.
It was just expressed differently than what I grew up with. But then in 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic, I was invited to apply for a role as an associate pastor over worship and family ministry. And for me, it was a dream come true on paper. Couldn't have been more perfect. My background in music, my heart for [00:03:00] counseling, my love for families, it all lined up.
So I applied and I went through the interviews and before long I got the job. And I remember sitting in that office in September, 2020 thinking to myself, wow, this is really happening. This is the fulfillment of that calling. This is the prophecy come to pass, if you will, but what I didn't see coming was one of the hardest seasons of my life.
You know how people talk about Murphy's Law? If something can go wrong, it will. I don't really believe in Murphy's Law, but in this case. It sure felt like something worth believing in because one thing after another just fell apart. The job wasn't what I expected and the parts I was called and gifted to do.
I didn't even do those well. Everything that I was responsible for, I did [00:04:00] poorly. I failed. Here's one example. I was tasked with launching life groups and relaunching life groups, bringing people together online. Now, I had been using Zoom for years without a problem. I even practiced, I ran a trial run with someone helping me, and everything worked fine.
But when it came to the time for the actual meeting, you know, that little breakout room button that's supposed to send people into different rooms, it just didn't work. Not once, but two weeks in a row. No matter what I tried, it wouldn't cooperate. And there I was looking totally incompetent in front of everyone.
On top of that, I was dealing with gluten contamination, which for me means brain fog, mood swings, exhaustion. It was just not a good look. So between the tech issues, the health [00:05:00] struggles, and the pressure of the role. I crashed and burned after just five months. Five months, they let me go. Now I can still feel that wave of embarrassment.
I was angry, confused, and burnt out because I had a practice on the side. I was over music ministry and worship music. But after that, I didn't listen to music for three whole months. For me that says quite a lot. I was in a wilderness season after that point that lasted for well over a year, and I remember asking God, how could this be happening?
Why? Why did you allow this to happen? Is this what you want from me? Didn't you call me here? Looking back, I'm reminded of the story of Moses in Exodus [00:06:00] chapter two. Remember, Moses thought he was stepping into calling when he killed the Egyptian, who was beating a Hebrew slave. He believed that this was the thing to do, but it all fell apart.
He fled into the wilderness, embarrassed, rejected, afraid, questioning if he had misunderstood God's call. At least that's my take on it. But that season of failure wasn't wasted. God was analyzing and shaping his character in the desert so that when the time came, Moses could truly step into the leadership with humility and dependence on God himself.
Like Moses, I had to realize that my failure didn't mean my calling was over. It meant God was redirecting me, teaching me to pause, ask questions, and grow in humility as I look back. Really [00:07:00] analyze that season. I started to notice a pattern in my life. I've always been willing to take chances, and I believe it's good to step out in faith, but here's what I realized.
I didn't ask enough questions. Think about it, a counselor not asking questions. I remember buying our first home and signing the mortgage papers, my wife and I, doing this together, and it all seemed so easy, but later I found out we actually had options We could have shopped around, even negotiated our interest rate.
I didn't know and I didn't think to ask. The same thing happened with this pastoral role. I was so excited by the opportunity, so desperate for change that I jumped in without really discerning. I didn't seek out the wisdom of the people God had placed around me. Proverbs 11, verse 14 says, [00:08:00] where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors, there is safety.
I thought I knew enough. Truth is I lacked humility. Now, was I wrong to take the position? No. Do I regret it? Not at all. If I had the chance to do it again, I probably would, but I'd do it differently. I'd ask a lot more questions. I would seek wise counsel and I'd be clear about what I was saying yes to and what I wasn't.
That experience helped me grow in clarity and e courage. Now, when I cancel young people or not so young people who are job hunting looking for the right role, I tell them, remember, interviews go both ways. Yes, you get to show what you bring to the table, but you also get to find out if this opportunity is really a good fit for [00:09:00] you at this point in time.
For me, that painful season of failure taught me how to discern more wisely and how to walk with greater humility. And in that way, it shaped me to be a little more like Christ. So here's my question for you. Have you ever rushed into something because it looked right only to discover it wasn't what you expected.
How has God used those moments to shape you? I'd love to hear your story. Analyzing failure helps us see how God is redirecting us. Proverbs 16 verse nine puts it beautifully in their hearts. Humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. That means our disappointments are not wasted.
They're often God's way of [00:10:00] conforming us to patience, trust, and surrender. Romans eight verse 29 reminds us that God's purpose is to conform us to the image of his son. Every stumbling is part of that shaping. So where in your life can you welcome failure as your friend, a friend God uses to mature you into Christ's likeness?
Let's close in prayer. Father, we thank you that failure is never final with you. As we think and as we analyze, as we stop to look at the things, haven't that haven't gone the way that we wanted them to. We recognize that you are present, you are active, and you are intentionally shaping us. So we thank you for the capacity and the ability to stop and to reflect and to analyze, see the patterns [00:11:00] in our lives that aren't working out, and to be more humble.
To look to you and to the wise counsel of people that you've placed in our lives. We thank you, God, that failure isn't final and that you are faithful to complete the good work you've begun in us. In Jesus' name, we say thank you. Amen. I just wanna say thank you for spending this time with me. And remember, failure is never final when God is forming us.
Until next time, keep moving. Keep moving from failure to fulfillment in Christ. Thanks for listening to From Failure to Fulfillment. If this episode encouraged you, share it with a friend and don't forget to like, follow, or subscribe so you won't miss the next one. Until then, remember, with God, failure is never [00:12:00] final.
