day 3K194: Analyzing Failure

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard”

Engineers, especially those who work in areas where safety is of concern, know what it means to perform a Failure Analysis.  This analysis requires pushing the structure or system to the point of failure and then after documenting, repeat over and over until the tolerance for failure is known and can be predicted. I actually saw this in action where at a shipyard in my hometown, a new age river cruiser called the Mississippi Queen was being constructed. One morning while working, the whistles blew and all were told to stop working and walk away from their stations as the Mississippi Queen was to be launched that day, right then, many, many months earlier than planned.  Why?  Because somewhere in a lab in England where a model of the ship, the launch ramp and the Ohio River were simulated by scale, a failure analysis was daily being performed.  Apparently, in that failure analysis, they had determined that if any more height or weight was added beyond what was already built, would cause upon launching the ship to roll and capsize in the Ohio River.  It was quite an event that happened almost instantaneously.  I am sure it took courage and conviction to be the engineer that had to make the call, but that is what a good failure analysis will support.

I’m doing a failure analysis as I write this.  Guess what? I am going to fail today in some way. The question will be whether I do so by choice or by lack of strength and will, which, ultimately ends up back as choice.  Yet, the great engineer of our universe knows each of our failures and with each of these He has already gone before us and forgiven us.  Even so, He will never give us more than we can handle so even in our failures He shows us nothing but grace, mercy, forgiveness and love.  Can we show the same to others as their failures become apparent?

Reference:  Romans 3:23 (New Living Translation)

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