38
" God never sees people as “too far gone.” There are thousands of stories in the Scripture that prove this to be true, but of all the stories, no one quite embodies it like Lazarus, whom Jesus raises from the dead.
Lazarus’s friends are very concerned for the apparent failure he is up against. He is sick and isn’t getting better, and so his sister goes to Jesus to ask if He will come heal him. They’ve seen Jesus perform healing, so this isn’t new to them, but they’ve never seen Jesus raise anyone from the dead.
Jesus assures Mary and Martha that Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death, but it quickly becomes clear that Lazarus is going to die. Jesus isn’t going to make it to him in time for the healing. In the face of this apparently permanent failure, Jesus tells the disciples, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe” (John 11:14-15). Can you imagine? What a thing for Jesus to say. I’m glad I wasn’t there to prevent this failure—because then you would have all missed the miracle that followed, and that miracle strengthens our faith. How can you let Jesus into the failure in your story so that He can strengthen your faith?
What comes next would be the final time in Scripture that Jesus brings someone back from the dead until His own resurrection a few chapters later. In this moment, Jesus teaches us the most important lesson we can learn about failure. Failure builds our faith. It strengthens our resolve. There is no such thing as “too far gone” because the bigger the failure, the bigger the opportunity for us to prove what we’re made of and for our God to prove just how powerful He is.
What if we started looking at our failure this way, rather than seeing it as a reason to give up? Perhaps we would be done wasting our time and our potential worrying about our setbacks and how they disqualify us from finishing first and we would discover just how brave, resilient, and capable we have been all along. "
― Scott Hamilton , Finish First: Winning Changes Everything
40
" I’m not saying that you should ignore your critics. This is the approach our culture often takes to criticism, and I think it’s a big mistake. Instead of ignoring your critics or listening to them, if you can edit them, you’ll have an amazing competitive advantage. You’ll be able to take something that would distract or derail most people and use it as leverage to help you get where you’re trying to go. This is the strength of a champion.
When you learn to edit your critics, criticism suddenly goes from being a stumbling block to being an incredible tool for building character, improving your performance, and giving you the strength you need to finish first. It will take some practice, sure. But I have great news. You can use the criticism in your life right this minute to help you strengthen the muscle. Just like any muscle, repetition and training will get you where you are trying to go.
This is about character. What kind of person do you want to be? Are you going to be the kind of person who hides from conflict and criticism, or are you going to give yourself permission to live up to your full potential? Are you going to do the work to become strong enough to receive and filter criticism, so editing your critics becomes second nature, or are you going to let critics distract you from what you’ve already decided is most important? "
― Scott Hamilton , Finish First: Winning Changes Everything
