Are you a Failure like Clarence the Guardian Angel?
As I turned on “It’s a Wonderful Life” for the first time this season to nurse my hurting heart after some recent professional and personal “rejections,” I hoped to refocus my thoughts to see all the blessings in my life, not all my failures over the last several decades. I never imagined that God might have a different message for me to hear.
In the past, I had related to George Bailey’s failure story, or more honestly, his sacrificial story of giving up his dreams and desires for others. It was painful to watch since I related on so many levels. Giving up my writing for my family. Giving up my current dreams to be there for my mom. I’m sure you have your own failure or sacrifice stories.
Yet, what really struck me this time was how much I related to Clarence the guardian angel who after 200 hundred years, had not earned his wings. In other words, he’d been failing for 200 years AFTER his death! 🤯 At that moment, I saw Clarence differently. No longer was he a bumbling angel who just couldn’t get it right no matter how hard he tried. Instead, I saw someone with perseverance and determination in the face of failure after failure. And we know there were a lot of failures because he said, “after 200 years people are starting to talk.”
Oh how I relate to Clarence. Do you? Seeing everyone else earn their wings while I still struggle to get mine. The more I thought about this, the more I realized Clarence is the real hero of the story! Not George or even Mary. But Clarence the guardian angel. If it wasn’t for him, George Bailey would have killed himself and so many other lives would have suffered and been ruined. The message at the end is powerful. “No man is a failure who has friends.” George would have never known what a wonderful life he truly had if it wasn’t for Clarence.
Intellectually, it’s easy to understand that as long as you have friends, you’re not a failure. But what if you don’t have friends to support you like George Bailey? What if you don’t have a loving spouse to pray for you and stand by your side like Mary? What if it’s not easy to see the blessings and successes in your wonderful life because you’re too clouded by disappointment and grief?
If you’re struggling with failure and disappointment, look to Clarence, the awkward, socially challenged, 200-years-dead angel, who didn’t give up. In fact, after 200 years of repeated failure, he still had childlike faith and enthusiastically charged forward on his next mission with hope and expectation. Imagine if George had gotten a depressed and hopeless guardian angel? The story would have turned out differently for everyone.
You may still be struggling to see the “George” in your life, but know that he’s there. You may not have found him yet. You might still be in year 199, but your Bedford Falls is just around the corner if you don’t give up!
You may never ever truly know the extent of your success or impact on others, but God does. Even if you impact one life, have one “success,” that is enough.
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40
