In this passage, failure is spoken about as Joshua prepares to step down as Israel’s leader. He talks to the children of Israel heart to heart. The entire 23rd chapter is on the subject of failure, but it stresses the unfailing necessity of not failing because “failure is not an option.”
Joshua 23:14 “And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.”
Read it again slowly and look at the commas to see the thought Joshua is conveying. We don’t have to fail because God doesn’t. Joshua was going to die soon. He told them they knew in their hearts and souls that “not one thing hath failed of all the good things.” “NOT ONE THING.” God has not failed in his promises or the things he has promised. They had possession of things promised many years before. They were a reality.
“Failure is not an option” is a well-known and well-used phrase of this day. In April 1970, Apollo 13 called and said “Houston, we have a problem.” Half way between the earth and the moon, an oxygen bottle blew; half of their equipment was gone. The heat, power and oxygen were going down. The command module was all but gone, leaving only the lunar module engine working. The control center staff went into frenzy. They didn’t know what to do; they were giving up. They needed something and needed it fast. After a prayer, the Commander spoke the now-famous phrase “failure is not an option.” Think success.
This is what Joshua said happens with God. “Failure is not an option.” God speaks what he means. Some things will unfold in proper time, but look at how many have come to pass. We serve, as they did, an unfailing God in whom the things he gives us have not failed. The oxygen tank had a defect; with God there is no such thing as a defect. Forgiveness, mercy, grace, provision, and our daily bread are still unfailing. We have enjoyed them, and they are still good. They don’t run out. We fail, but God and the things he gives never fail. Joshua told them “you know this.”
All we need to keep us going will always be sufficient. There is no reason why we can’t be unfailing. It’s correct that we’re human, but what God gives us is a resource to help us not fail. It’s a mistake to take our unfailing God and turn around and say we can’t succeed, overcome, or win the victory. It’s like saying the gas tank is full, but you can’t take the car anywhere. There is no reason. If the Lord is in your heart where he should be “failure is not an option.”
In verse 6 Joshua said “Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the Law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left.” Get on with it. God’s words are not just words; they are real. If we can keep something, that something is tangible. Because they are unfailing things given to us by the hand of God, we can hold onto them. Other verses show us there is no reason to say or think about failure or to accuse God of it.
God is a can, can, can God, and we can. God won’t say “well done” unless we’ve done well. Failure is not God’s fault. It’s a deliberate dropping and letting go of the unfailing things that will keep us from failing. God has an open hand. Don’t give excuses. God knows.
Apollo 13 got home successfully. God is not expecting us to fail and has given us all we need. He expects success. If we say we’ll fail, we will. If we face every day with the attitude that by the grace of God we will not fail, we will succeed.
Don’t fail in not failing.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 