WINSTON Churchill once said: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.”

However inspiring adages such as this can be, failing is a most painful experience that none of us face with relish.

I have been in church leadership for almost 35 years and, looking back, I can recall far more failures than successes. Yet I am still here and still accepted by God and the people that matter to me.

At one time, something was going on in the church I was leading that was out of my control and, as a result, good people were leaving. In my despair, I called on the Lord and said I wasn’t competent to lead this church.

He replied immediately: “I put you in this job and whether you are competent or not to do it is my problem, not yours. I will not judge you by what you cannot do; I will only judge you by what you won’t do.”

What a joy to know the Lord. Immediately, my despair lifted and, soon after, the situation evaporated. I have failed many times in my life, but gladly I know I am not a failure.