Grace in the Face of Failure
By Mrs. Katie Ahmadzai
Failure concept by alexskopje from Getty Images Pro Created in Canva
When I was a senior in high school, I took physics. Our teacher was notoriously challenging and did not shy away from bringing many excellent students to tears. However, I was undeterred. I loved math and science and had never encountered a teacher I couldn’t get along with... Challenge Accepted!
The year started fine. Most of the course involved math problems, lab reports, and notebook checks. Then we came to the unit on motors. I knew the parts of a motor and how it worked—I could probably even teach a unit on it—but the assessment was totally different.
"Build a working motor over the weekend and bring it to school on Monday."
What?!? These were the days before Googling or finding a YouTube tutorial. I remember everyone panicking and racing to the library to find the one science fair book that might contain a guide on building a motor. For some reason, I decided to tackle this project on my own. No “How To” guide for me, just knowledge and creativity. I would like to say it was because I valued learning through trial and error, but really it was pride—I figured I understood the concept so well that I would be an awesome motor builder. Easy peasy. I just needed to find the right parts.
After school, I drew out a design and gathered materials without buying anything: Coke cans, pencils, wires, a battery, and duct tape—a collection that looked like car trash. After several attempts to assemble it, it seemed ready. I connected the battery to the wires and... NOTHING.
"No worries," I thought, "probably just a loose wire or a bad battery." But hours of troubleshooting later, it still didn’t work. It was past midnight, and I had to accept defeat and get some sleep.
On Monday, one by one, students showed the teacher their polished motors. Mine looked like a last minute attempt to throw something together. When my name was called, I felt embarrassed and defeated. I showed him my design and my "motor." I wish I could say it miraculously worked when I connected the battery—it didn’t. I braced for disappointment and ridicule, but instead, he looked at me and said, "Good job. Sometimes we fail."
This teacher wasn’t a believer. He was openly atheist and approached science from that worldview. Yet that day, he taught me a valuable lesson that shaped my walk with Christ.
Failure is part of life. From the moment sin entered the world, failure became inevitable. The question that has changed the way approach failure is, "What is God’s response when I fail?" The answer is grace. Grace allows forgiveness and redemption. It beckons us to come to Him with our brokenness. It means that even when we fail and face the consequences, He is with us—teaching, guiding, and loving us through every step. His grace is foundational, not our performance or perfection.
I’m not saying, "Don’t aim for excellence," nor am I saying, "Failure is fun, so why bother?" Both attitudes miss the point of grace. Instead, I say, "Go forth, beloved child of God; seek excellence through Christ’s work in you, not perfection on your own." And when you fail (because we all do), remember: His grace encourages you to rise and try again. His grace reminds us that growth happens not just in success, but in every step of the journey.
-Katie Ahmadzai
Columns: 📣A Word From Admin