He went off to war as a captain with grand dreams of conquest. He failed.
     Opening a shop in business, another avenue was attempted. He floundered.
     He tried his hand as a lawyer. Failure.
     Congress was the next endeavor. Defeat.
     Applying as commissioner for a government office, he flopped.
     He ran for the senate. Frustrated.
     He targeted the vice-presidency. Unsuccessful.
     Failure. Failure. Failure.

     Yet, in 1861, he rose to be President of the United States of America.
     Thus was the path of Abraham Lincoln. He perceived things in this way:
     "...the Almighty directly intervenes in human affairs... I have had
     so many evidences of His direction, so many instances when I have been
     controlled by some power other than my own will that I have no doubt
     that this power comes from above."

     We should not evaluate experiences as individual events. We need to see things in their overall perspective. It's not the stumbling that's the issue, it's finishing the race. After all, the other guy has his stumbling too. And remember, the turtle did win over the rabbit.

     "The LORD foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD STAND FIRM FOREVER, the purposes of His heart through all generations." -Psalm 33:10-11

     " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' " -Jeremiah 29:11