Error = Knowledge

When sharing knowledge with others, often times I gained that knowledge through error.  For example, what I learn on a computer develops due to error and realizing the correct way to get a task done in the first place.  Through error, I also learn how to fix problems and get back on track.  It may take me longer the first time, but I then can pass the knowledge on to the next person and the process can go faster for them.

Another example comes when learning a new job.  It seems mistakes appear right and left in the first few weeks; but, it is in that time I learn the most.  I learn what NOT to do, what NEEDS done and how to handle failure.  Cool part of it all is that the next person can learn early on from my mistakes and I now become a teacher/leader. 

The successful teacher/leader develops out of a past jammed full with mistakes.  They take each one and turn it into knowledge.  Then pass that onto another.  The flipside: a poor teacher/leader develops when each mistake is tallied as failed attempts.  These build one by one to teardown an individual.  Nothing is left to pass onto when the individual loses faith in oneself due to mistakes.

A time in history exists when I chalked up each mistake as failure.  I tore down any possibility of success in my little ole life.  I avoided opportunities due to fear of more failure.  When mistakes occurred, I simply gave up, refusing to learn for the next time.  One by one, each mistake drove me deeper into a pit.  I landed smack dab in the middle without any tools to get out.  An eating disorder, depression, addiction and failure joined in on this failed life. 

Ah, but one day, a light shone through a tiny gap.  That light came through a child of God.  He used one child as a vessel to teach and lead me to Truth.  His child gained knowledge through error in the past.  This child learned numerous lessons in the past stemming from error.  He taught the child what NOT to do, what NEEDS to be done and how to handle the failed attempts.

I looked to the light and with each step towards it, failure minimized.  Mistakes turned into lessons.  No longer did mistakes define me, they only drove me to teach/lead others to the same Truth. 

It is through Truth we learn from the ultimate Teacher.  We learn what NOT to do each step of the way.  We gain tools to resist sin and turn mistakes into ministry.  We learn what NEEDS to be done in life.  Once learning Truth, our Leader points in the direction to GO.  Go make disciples, teaching others Truth so they too may come to know the ultimate Teacher.  We also learn how to handle failure.  As humans, we will fail.  We need not remain in failure.  Learn from mistakes and move forward.

Will you take all mistakes in the past/present and lay them at the cross today?  God will use each one to develop your ministry.  Yes, YOU!  You were made for ministry.  Ask the ultimate Teacher today for guidance in developing your ministry based on His plan and purpose for you. 

Are you sitting in a pit such as I was years ago?  Look closely for even the smallest light shining through the surrounding storm.  It is there, I promise.  Look for that light and then don’t take your eyes off it.  You too will rise out of the pit and build a ministry.

Keep praying harder than the devil can work.