Free to Fail

A topic that has been on my mind quite a bit recently was touched on at church on Saturday night, with Ps Angelo speaking about how failure is simply a part of life. If you had preached something of this nature to me 5+ years ago...I would have been very uncomfortable and maybe even thought it was total rubbish! But experiences (and failures) have taught me that we are ultimately free to failure...its just part of the road that leads to success!

Some people live such timid and unexciting lives. They aren't adventurous, they don't want to move out of their comfort zone, they are simply content doing the same things each and every day. But this is not the type of lives we are called to live...for God has called us to lead exciting lives, to lead extraordinary lives!

I know that for along time I led a very safe existence. I was to fearful of failure, I needed everything to be perfect. But this ultimately meant that I played the percentages and didnt do anything even slightly out of the norm! How boring a tale this was turning into! But looking over the past few years, I see some of the great works that God has done in me...where in the past I would ensure that I crossed every "t" and dotted every "i" before commencing something new...these days Im beginning to be a little more daring.

Someone said to me that I "live my life like Im reading it from a book". I guess that was true. I guess I was reacting to past experiences. We all know that the world we live in does not reward failures....its almost relentless in its quest for the best and success. But when we are condemned by the ideals of this world, we need not get discouraged...for our heavenly Father sees the hearts of people. He gives us a second chance.

I think through life experiences I have come to realise that in many situations "temporary failure" leads to "long term success". I am by no means the kind of guy that gets things right first time. Be it in my work, to cooking, to relationships...there is one thing Im good at and that is making mistakes. But I have come to acknowledge that it is in my failures that Gods power is made even more evident to me! It is when I fall that he picks me up...It is where I have lack of knowledge that he gives me the wisdom I need. I know that by my own strength I can achieve nothing...I just make mistakes. But when I allow God to take hold of my situations...its here that I see amazing things being to unfold!

One of the biggest weapons the enemy has is the fear of failure. There will be times when we initially succeed...things are going well...we are taking risks...but then we start to hit some of our goals...we begin playing it safe and trying to protect the things we do have. We must not try to maintain things...for God has called us for bigger and better things...not to stay the same!

Failure is just part of the success process. Its like the saying...one door closes, another door will open. But one of the big problems is when we fail, we begin to second guess ourselves, and in someways we are beginning to second guess God. I know there are situations that Im going through right now that I feel unsure about, I have my concerns that I will fail...but there is one line that is running through my head...our God never fails!

One of the rules we need to apply in our lives is the condition that when God calls us, no matter what we feel or think...we just have to do it anyway! It says in Hebrews 11:6 the following -

But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].

We must learn to live by faith and follow God where he calls us. We must act diligently and seek Him out in all situations. Ultimately when we allow God to guide and we live according to his amazing plans, things just being to succeed in ways that we never before felt possible, just as we read in Romans 8:28 -

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

I hope this has come as an encouragement and if there were situations where you were holding back based on fear of failure, you will now approach the situation with a new found boldness. That you will allow the holy spirit to guide you. That you will trust the Lord, no matter what path He takes you down. I know there are situations that Im going through where I continually question God as to where He is taking me and how it relates to the end goal...but I hold firm to His word...for our God never fails!