When your horse dies, don't sell the farm: does a dead church result in a dead pastor?

A couple of weeks ago, one of our horses got out of her pen and found a bag of ground corn. This would not have been a problem for most animals, but it is deadly for a horse. It's not deadly because of poison from the corn, it is deadly because the corn is extremely dry, and when it hits the moisture inside of the horse, it begins to soak all of that up, and it can form a clog that blocks the horse's digestive system. The term we use for it is colic. Colic is a pain for farmers all over the world. Grass, grain, hay, horse feed, or anything else that a horse eats can cause colic if the animal does not drink enough water to help it keep moving through their body. Colic is especially bad during the winter when the animals naturally aren't as thirsty and don't drink enough. Most farmers will add salt to a horse's food to make them thirsty and therefore drink an adequate amount of water during the winter. But, no matter how much you do to prevent Colic, if you raise horses long enough, you will have it happen to one. Have you everr heard the phrase, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink?"
The spot that you see in the picture, well that is Camille's final resting place. Two days after she got into that food, she colicked, and we were not able to save her. If she had only gone to the water trough and drank water after she ate the ground corn, she would probably not have died.
This was a sad day. There was little that I could do to prevent it. She was in a good fence; the corn was in sealed bags in a separate barn, but somehow, she got out and found her way in, chewed through the bags, and ate all she wanted. There was not a lot that I could do. When she died, all kinds of guilt came through my mind. Did I do right by her, or was this something that came about because she was a 1200-pound animal that had a mind of her own, and she did what she wanted to, even though I tried to protect her from it?
I am sure I could have done things differently, but ultimately she made a decision. If you have ever ridden one, you know that horses have a mind of their own. Just because she died does not make me a bad farmer.
How does this apply to many of you that are pastoring dying churches? We have all kinds of resources that are designed to keep your church alive. Podcasts, books, and blogs like this one are all there to help you bring your church back to life, but what happens when the congregation doesn't buy in? You, as the pastor, cannot revitalize your church on your own. You cannot grow it on your own, and you cannot lead it on your own. Revitalization is a team sport. You can teach your church every revitalization point there is and preach it till you are blue in the face, but if they don't want to do it, it won't happen, which is why: sometimes revitalization fails. 
I want you to know that just because your revitalization failed or is failing does not mean that you, as a pastor, are a failure. I am sure there are things you could have done differently, different methods you could have tried, or situations you could have done differently. This situation does not have to define you. Hold your head high, and remember that it is God who defines you. Learn what you can from the process and give it your all, but if the people have made their minds up that they do not want to change, you will not change them.
Remember, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink, even when it's life depends on it.
Hang in there, saddle back up, and keep going!