Failure.
We seek to avoid. Some people live a constant failure averse life driven by remaining in their "wheelhouse" to steal a baseball phrase. The comfort zone occupied by tasks that maximize strengths populated by others who are impressed by said skills.
Does God want that?
Think of towering biblical figure. Were they always on the mountaintop? Consider Jeremiah. We single Jeremiah out as a giant of the faith but man what a tough existence. A prophet who lead a whopping 2 people to the faith. Everyone else scorned Jeremiah or laughed at him. No one listened to his warnings or prophecies. And yes he was right of course but what a horrible thing to be right about. This does not include captivity, prison, death threats, or murder attempts.
I doubt Jeremiah signed up for all that. Still, he never wavered facing failure an disrespect head on without blinking. My guess is God would have us do the same at times.
I enjoy your insight to this subject a lot! Failing forward and learning from unsuccessful attempts is very important. I believe that we will also appreciate our blessings and accomplishments when there may be some struggle involved.
jamie parker
This story is a great way towards wake up call on how nothing is perfect and having evil tendencies or failures happen is a great reminder towards always looking forwards and reminding yourself to get through this and have faith.
I think we could all do well to remember Jeremiah's story and use it as a reminder that God is the one to bring people to himself, not us, and that we need to have faith in him in all things, not ourselves.
Good afternoon Dr. Sullivan,
Thank you for this devotional. I think that the fear of failure is what limits us the most. I am a big believer that everything happens for a reason. You will never know unless you try. If you never try then it is a definite "no." Accepting that failure might be an outcome is okay. If that's the outcome then you either get better and continue trying or move onto something else. If you are striving for something that you really believe in, such as your faith, then you will never give up no matter how many times you fail. Jeremiah is a great example of this within the Bible.
Lately I’ve been thankful for being born. With what I do for foster care I often hear about children that have either been told they’re an accident or circumstances made them believe that about themselves. No, we didn’t have it easy growing up but death is sad. Being able to live and breathe is something to be thankful for. People who pass away lose their ability to breathe and continue their journey here on earth. I was given the gift of life. A gift that enables me to experience love, happiness, community, air, and beauty. Yes, life consists of hard moments but with that comes restoration. There is a special sort of beauty in restored ugliness. Without emptiness and loss…