God is Good! (Nahum 1:7). We have to begin there in each and every situation. The problem is that we so often fail to tap into the goodness of God for lack of trust. One dictionary definition says that trust is ‘confidence in’ and ‘reliance on’ and secondly that it is a position of obligation. Eph 1:3 lets us know that the entire Christian life is learning to access what God in Christ has already provided for us. But in the learning we often meet with failure and disappointment. If God works in everything for our good (Rom 8:28), by implication we will fail in some things when first we try. We are wrong to limit this verse to the bad things that happen to us which are beyond our control. It also has to have reference to the things we do! And believe me this is a hugely positive thing. If you are succeeding at everything, you’re not trying hard enough! You’re not risking enough!
My kayaking club are going to award a trophy at the end of the year to the person who has had to bail out of their kayaks and swim the most. All that has accomplished is stopping many club members from having a go at a stretch of river that is a bit beyond them and this means improvement is hampered. We need to risk, we need to go out on a limb, we need as Will Carey said, to “attempt great things for God”. We have after all an assignment from God to see to it that His Kingdom comes, His will is done. Trusting a God that is good and always works good gives us the confidence to keep at it, to pursue those things that are beyond us naturally. It is how we grow. Learning and growing through failure Keeps us tethered to the goodness of God.
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3 comments:
I think you're on the nail here Nick - all too often churches are utterly 'success' driven - where it's more important to succeed than to try. So we don't take risks, we don't try new stuff, we feel guilty about the stuff we have tried that failed. "We tried that once, it didn't work" is a constant refrain. I'd love to see churches which create safe environments for people to fail. Where people can try new things for God and know that if it goes wrong a) no-one's going to make them feel guilty, and b) they'll be allowed to try again another time. Failing at something isn't a failure. Never attempting anything is...
I love the line, 'if you have succeeded in everything you're not trying hard enough.' Excellent!
I agree with Simon, and I know what he means about a safe environment to experiment but if if it is totally safe, is there any real risk and any exercise of faith?
ps check our ASBO Jesus 801
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