Paul often spoke of his weakness being turned into strength in the hands of God. His chequered past of persecuting the early church did not disqualify him from the higher call of Christ.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14 

When we focus on our failures, we make the subconscious decision to lean on our own strengths and abilities, rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us. I’ll give you a practical example: my brother got married on Monday and I was the MC. It was something I have never done before and although the guests probably didn’t scrutinise everything I said or didn’t say, I spent the next day engrossed in an intensive post-mortem on the things that I should have said or did to make it a better experience. Yet it was done, over, that moment of time gone forever. So there was no point dissecting something that can never be redone – all that I can do is look for the nugget of learning that is contained at the heart of every perceived failure and apply that lesson at the next opportunity that presents itself.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

It might take a while before you can start ‘boasting in your weakness’ like Paul did, but I want to encourage you today to never allow failure in any aspect of your life be the final word. You can either place your failure into the hands of satan so that he can bury you with it, or into the hands of God so that He can use it as a stepping stone in your journey of spiritual growth.

You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. 1 Thessalonians 2:1-2

God is preparing His church for the intensifying spiritual battle as the kingdom of darkness clashes with the Kingdom of Light. This is no time to run and hide – it’s time to rise up with courage and faith to overcome every lie of the enemy. What might look like a failure in the natural, God is able to supernaturally turn into success. There can only ever be perfection in Christ.

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection. 2 Corinthians 13:5-9