Mistakes Can Turn Into Success:  Look at these examples of bad turned good…

In a previous post, we talked about how our failures and mistakes can contribute to some of our insecurities.  We tend to beat ourselves up for the mistakes we make.  It never ceases to amaze me though how God can take our disobedience and mistakes and turn them into something beautiful.  He can take something that I completely messed up and then turn it around to be a blessing to me and to others.  

Did you know there are several products and inventions that came from mistakes?  To name a few…the Slinky, Penicillin, plastic, chocolate chip cookies (thank goodness for this mistake!), potato chips, the pacemaker, silly putty, safety glass, microwave ovens, corn flakes, Post-it notes (another one of my favorites!), x-rays, superglue, popsicles, vulcanized rubber (i.e. tires), and matches.  Here’s a fun read about the 20 Most Fascinating Accidental Inventions all originating from mistakes.  I personally believe many of these mistakes turned success were probably God-inspired.  There are stories throughout the Bible of mistakes turned success too.

God turned Jonah’s mistake into a success

We can see one example of how a mistake turned into success played out for Jonah in the Bible. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, but Jonah disobeyed and went the complete opposite direction.  He ended up hitching a ride on a ship with some dudes that worshipped other gods.

As they were sailing, the Lord sent a great storm that threatened to tear the ship apart.  The men cried out to their gods to no avail.  When they discovered the storm was most likely due to Jonah running from God, they reluctantly threw him overboard upon his request.  In doing so they ended up crying out then to God (Jonah’s God not their gods) and vowing to serve Him thereafter.

You can read this part of the story in its entirety in Jonah 1, but take a look at these verses: 

“But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the LORD…”  (Jonah 1:3 NLT)

“Then they cried out to the LORD, Jonah’s God. “O LORD,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O LORD, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.” Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! The sailors were awestruck by the LORD’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.”  (Jonah 1:14-16 NLT)

“And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.” (Jonah 3:1-3 NLT)

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28 NLT)

How many times are we like Jonah?

How many times do we, like Jonah, do this ourselves (disobey God and run the opposite way) when we don’t like what God is telling us to do?  However, the cool thing is that God can even work through our disobedience, failures, and mistakes.  God used Jonah’s disobedience for His good.  People were saved and now followed The Lord because they had an opportunity to see God at work.

I guess God is the original author of making lemonade from lemons!  I can just hear Him now…”Oh good grief Jonah!  You’ve really screwed things up.  Well…I guess I’ll turn this around for good too.”

The Takeaway

We all disobey God at some point or another, but don’t condemn yourself or beat yourself up for too long.  He can even use your disobedience to His benefit.  He’ll meet you where you are.  The key is to pick yourself back up, like Jonah did the second time around, and obey from that point.

For example, if God says to treat your spouse kindly, using soft words and not to nag or gripe and you disobey and do those things anyway, it would seem you’ve messed things up.  However, God can use your screw-up too…

Like when you’re in the shower pouring your heart out to God and tattle-telling on your spouse, and God tells YOU (NOT your spouse) to apologize to your spouse for using harsh words and griping.  You REALLY may not want to, but you KNOW God told you to, so you obey.  God can then get a bigger win from the sincere apology than if you would have just obeyed in the first place because your spouse can see that God is truly working on you—they have the opportunity to see God at work in spite of and through your mistakes.

By the way…I may or may not have played this scenario out before. 😉  Just remember, God can make lemonade from your lemons!

Take Some Practical Steps to Turn Your Mistakes into Success:

• First, own your mistakes.

When you’ve screwed up, just admit it.  Don’t try to play the blame game or make excuses.  That doesn’t work with God.  Duh…He’s God.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 (ESV)

• Then, after you’ve admitted your mistakes, ask God to step in and fix whatever mess you may have caused.

God’s a master craftsman…He can fix anything! Just say something like, “God, I’ve really made a mess of things here. I screwed up. Please forgive me. I need your help in making this right now. The Bible says that you can cause all things to work together for good, so that means even the things I screw up can turn into something good with your help. Please work my mistake out for something good.”

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28 NLT)

• Finally, learn from your mistakes. Pick yourself back up, and obey from now on.

Did I just hear you say “yeah right”?  OK, so do your best.  Then when you mess up again, rinse and repeat 🙂 …Go back to Step 1 and repeat (hopefully these mess-ups will become fewer and farther between!).  Remember though, to mature spiritually and to be successful, you must stop repeating your mistakes.

“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins–and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.” 1 John 2:1-2 (NLT)

“Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God–I say this to your shame.” 1 Corinthians 15:34 (NIV)

“Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’” John 5:14 (NIV)

“…And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” John 8:11 (ESV) 

• Here are some other relevant posts that you might find helpful when it comes to making mistakes:

Flaws, Imperfections, Mistakes: Are they really all bad?

Overcome Your Failures: They Do NOT Define You!

When You Fall or Fail Get Back Up!

What are some mistakes that you have made that have turned into success?  Tell us about it by leaving a comment below.

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If you have benefited from this post or if you know anyone that could benefit from this, please pay it forward and share this post with them via the sharing links below! “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 1 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV) 

*Updated: Originally posted 1/27/2015