The Resilient Christian, Part 9
There is one thing that successful people have in common: no debilitating fear of failure. From the baseball diamond to the boardroom, those who succeed build on mountains of unsuccess. The resilient Christian does well to learn valuable spiritual lessons from these secular schoolmasters.
Christianity requires a great leap of faith. Not only are Christians to have faith in a God they cannot see and a Savior who has not walked the earth in over 2,000 years, but they are also required to make life-altering choices based on this faith. All the things that constitute earthly success fall into a distant place behind proving oneself loyal to God. Not only this, people of God are given unimaginable commands such as “love your enemies” and “sell all and follow Me.” There is no doubt that it is all or nothing with God.
For the above reasons, Christianity is not for the timid; strength to bring one’s will into juxtaposition with Christ is essential. To make matters even more challenging, failure is assured. A glance through the Bible will make this point when it is seen that great people like Abraham, Moses, Martha, Mary, and Peter went through periods when their faith simply was not as strong as needed. Indeed, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV).
Still, God does not give His people a spirit of fear (II Timothy 1:7). Though failure is always possible, God wants nothing held back in one’s zeal to follow Him. This can be a frightening proposition. The thought of seeking to build Christian relationships with those who might reject, sharing the gospel with one who might grow angry, teaching, and admonishing fellow-Christians who might not reciprocate in kindness can feed timidity. However, resilience presses forward regardless of the present danger of failure.
Resilience also means learning from failure. It is a painful experience to read of the many failures of Jesus’ chosen disciples. These men displayed arrogance, pride, weakness, timidity, and lack of faith in many situations. However, these are the same men who willingly preached the message of salvation even to the point of death. Their stories are included for a reason; God is demonstrating what He can do with a willing heart. Like these men, Christians must never quit simply because they do not get things right on the first try. This is why the Bible is filled with promises of grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Like the twelve, success comes when one stops relying on self and trusts that God is ready to help.
What is being left undone in the work of God because of your timidity? Once this question is answered, determine a course of action and get busy, understanding you will possibly fail. Instead of turning away in fear, pray to God for strength and aid. Show resilience! Trust that God will work through your willing heart as He has done with many “failures” throughout history.
