The Dreaded F Word

What if I fail?

I don’t know how.

I don’t have everything I need.

I don’t have the answers.

I have no experience with that.

I don’t have time.

Notice the common word in those statements above? I. 

Why does everything always have to be about us? Why do we always find a way to make everything about us? It’s not about us. It’s not about you. It’s not about me. Jesus did not say, “Come and show me how all of my ideas and principles can be about you.” When Jesus called us He said, “Come. Follow me.” When Jesus called His first disciples, they left everything and followed Him. No questions. No what-if’s. In that moment, it ceased to be about them. I’m sure they had questions and what-if’s, but in that moment, it was all about Jesus. And because of their obedience, the world would never be the same.

Obedience is hard, especially when you don’t understand the why behind it or it feels like an impossible task has been asked of you. No one wants to fail. A lot of us are not overly fond of change. Sure, we like the idea of being obedient to Jesus and playing a role in changing the world, but if it means moving out of our comfort zones or taking a big risk, we aren’t so sure we want to play a part anymore. It is hard, and more often than not, we are not convinced that we can actually do hard things. 

We have been taught that failure is a bad thing. We have been taught, well meaningly, that if Jesus has asked us to do something, it will succeed. I mean, we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength, right? Might I suggest that sometimes it is not so much about the task that He is asking you to do, but more about your willingness to be obedient even when it doesn’t make sense to you? 

I think we have been conditioned to look at failure in the wrong light. Failure is a necessary part of life. We have to try things and fail sometimes. It is the only way we learn. Innovation and creativity flourish in failure. When something doesn’t work, we have to think creatively to figure out what will work. That is not a bad thing. We have been told that it is a bad thing, but it really isn’t. Failing teaches us to think divergently. It is a beautiful thing. I am not sure why we have been trained to fear it so much. 

When we stay frozen in fear of all the what-if’s when God asks us to do something, we are failing at obedience. In those instances, we are not moving because we are too afraid that we will fail not realizing that that in and of itself is a failure. Once again, it has become all about us. 

So, what’s the point? The point is that when Jesus asks us to do some seemingly impossible task, it is because of 2 Corinthians 12:9. It is because it is all about Him and not about you. You are merely the instrument He has chosen to use to glorify His name and point people to Himself. His strength shines through when you step out in obedience to Him when He places an impossible task in front of you. It is not about you. 

If Jesus has placed a burden on your heart that you feel inadequate to act on, act on it anyway. Don’t ask Him to take the burden away. Don’t ask Him to ask someone else. You do it. You are the one He has chosen for this task. You may not know the reason, but you don’t need to know the reason. He has His reasons, and they are honestly not your concern. He has placed an opportunity in front of you to be obedient. He has placed an opportunity in front of you to grow closer to Him and strengthen your relationship with Him. He has placed an opportunity in front of you to play a role in glorifying His name and introducing others to Him. Don’t squander that opportunity. Don’t fail through fear. If you are going to fail, fail through trusting Him and taking a risk. Those are the failures that carry the invaluable lessons from Jesus Himself, and those failures are nothing to be afraid of.