until you try.
Failure, defeat , success, accomplishment lie just beyond taking that first step. Granted no one wants to fail or be defeated, but sometimes that happens – sometimes due to ourselves not analyzing the situation and option planning and sometimes it’s beyond our ability to control or influence. Regardless… the feelings that are associated with negative results are there.
First. Stop. Take a look at the situation, did you do all you knew how to do? Will you let your feelings dictate and direct you in your future actions? Can you get over yourself and see what can be learned from the experience? One defeat really won’t break you unless you let it. It can be a lesson. And maybe, just maybe you really did do all you could but because of a lack of authority – you couldn’t.
The bottom line really is: until you try. And yes, once you’ve been burned, it isn’t always easy to “try, try again”. But that phrase can be applied to only doing the same o, same o. If it didn’t work the first time, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater but also don’t try to make something that universal… that doesn’t work in this situation but may be the answer at another time. Hold on to it as an ‘option’ that may be applicable in a different area.
There are a couple of scriptures that also can be your foundation. Remember that:
“For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].” [Ephesians 2:10]
Notice who does the assigning of works – The Lord, The Father. And if He prepared them for us so that we would walk in them… then we can walk in them confidently If we walk in someone else’s gifting then we could be burned… but our heart was ‘in the right place’. You sometimes are made aware of (fill in the blank) because you are part of the process and can come along side but not lead. And never get caught in ‘wishing’ for a special gift. If they ALL weren’t important, needed, wanted then they wouldn’t be in scripture and we wouldn’t have the entire 12th chapter in 1 Corinthians.
Part of all this is to remember our lessons, don’t repeat ineffective behavior, and especially don’t assume or predict failure (or success). Especially failure… if you KNOW it isn’t going to work, stop before it proves you right! Just how affective is an ‘I told you so’? Precisely. Quite honestly, the half glass full, discovering a silver lining isn’t a bad mindset and it isn’t ‘pie in the sky’ or rose colored glasses. It’s having your feet planted firmly in the ground, head clear but a heart that knows that the Lord never sets us up for failure. Lessons – yes. Tests – yes. But never forget the scripture that tells us that God NEVER tempts (James 1:13).
It’s your choice. It’s your decision. But… you really have no idea what you can do… until you try. You just need to know who your partner in (fill in the blank) is and whose you are. What you can do may be uncharted territory, until… Are you an explorer???
