When we have an undertaking, or a project or an assignment, we would certainly want to succeed.
To fail in it would certainly result in disappointment, and the greater the expectation for achievement, the greater will be the disappointment.
But when our plans and expectations fail, then we also need to remember that it is just a temporary setback and not a permanent failure.
Failure is our teacher, not the undertaker; failure is not defeat.
In the 1st reading, the battle between the Philistines and Israel resulted in a defeat for Israel with a substantial loss of lives.
Immediately they questioned and asked why has the Lord allowed them to be defeated by the Philistines.
And even before seeking an answer from the Lord, they decided to bring the ark of the Lord into the next battle.
They were simply trying to make the Lord grant them victory, instead of reflecting on why they were defeated in the first place.
So they did not learn from their first defeat and were presumptuous to think that with the ark, the Lord will grant them victory.
As for the leper in the gospel, he has learned through his suffering that only the Lord will grant him a cure from his disease.
May our failures and disappointments teach us to turn to the Lord and ask for His guidance to grant success to the work of our hands so that the Lord will be glorified.