I wanted a pair of shoes so I went to the market to find one. That day I searched for a suitable one in almost all the shops I could find in the market but didn’t find any. The closest pairs to what I wanted were above my budget. I finally gave up and went home. However I really wanted the shoes so the next day I reluctantly got extra cash and returned to the shop where I found the most suitable pair. Unfortunately, I found out the pair was over-sized for me. I felt frustrated as I resumed the search again that day. The plan was to quickly pick the pair of shoes and return home. I spent almost two hours that day entering every shop I could find to get something as good as I wanted around the market. After those hours of futility, I decided to leave that market and check a shopping mall somewhere else in the town. I found just the right pair of shoes in the first shop I entered and the price was just half of what I had decided to spend in the market.

With a sigh of relief I hurriedly returned home regretting the hours that had been wasted searching the wrong place. Those two wasted hours were meant to be used for something else. In my mind, I asked God “why don’t you just tell people the specific place to go and at the right time instead of watching them waste time and effort ploughing the wrong field? Just imagine how much time and energy you could have saved me if you had just told me the exact place to go.” I grumbled within me. I got my answer: “You wouldn’t have appreciated the result as much as you did when you finally got it. Value the process!” That gentle response that whispered in my heart calmed all the disgust I felt from the experience that day. God is right- I would most likely not have chosen the pair of shoes I finally bought if I had seen it in the first shop I entered the first day. I would have liked to explore other options and would probably have ended up buying the expensive shoes (believing it has a better quality).

Don’t be discouraged when you go through initial rigors on your quest for success at anything. In Zechariah 4:10 the Bible says ‘Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.’ (New Living Translation) When Thomas Eddison, the inventor of the light bulb, was asked how it felt to fail 1,000 times his response was remarkable “ I didn’t fail 1,000 times, the light bulb was an invention of 1,000 steps.” To him, he had learnt 1,000 ways that won’t work. Value the process! It gives you experiences that bring a genuine result in the end. Many great people whom history always remember rose from series of failure to the successful endings that the world reckon with today. While you keep trying (relationships, business, Christian journey, academics, career, etc) always remember that there is a lesson to be learnt in every failed attempt. You may also like this article on patience.

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