Have you ever had God give you a vision of something that’s too big for you to accomplish? Well, He’s certainly given me one. He’s shown me how He wants the MD website to help disciple people all over the world and help bring unity to the Body of Messiah world-wide. He’s shown me a retreat center (MD-HQ a.k.a. Rehovot) that He wants to establish to help people experience deliverance and be able to walk in more peace and fruitfulness in their lives. I’ve bathed every bit of the ministry in prayer and put the Lord first in everything. Yet still I’ve seen no fruit from my labors, or at least fruit as I would count it.
Yes, God has done amazing things to sustain the ministry these past four years. He gave me inspiration, tools and the ability to create what I thought was a great discipleship program that very few people used. He gave me the wisdom to create a website containing teachings that He’s given me personally that have brought me through extreme darkness and into the light in my own life. To my knowledge I’m not sure if those same teachings have blessed anyone else. I am blessed when I receive positive comments on this blog and that reassures me that people are touched and blessed by what I write. Keep commenting! 😉
I’m being honest here not to gain your sympathy, but to show you some real struggles we face when we follow things the Lord tells us to do.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
This morning in prayer, the Lord was encouraging me regarding moving forward in faith for the things that I believe He’s shown me about this ministry. He revealed that deep down inside of me at this junction was a fear of failure; and that was one reason my soul was feeling downcast relative to the current state of the ministry. God is so faithful to help us navigate through our own human frailty. Here are some other things He revealed to me that I pray help you as well.
Fear of failure is a lie. There’s no such thing as failure when we’re in Messiah and submitted to Him wholeheartedly.
Success isn’t as related to achieved results as it is to how we go through the process of what we’re doing.
All true results are fixed by God.
“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified.”(Romans 8:28-30)
We’re not to measure success in our life’s ministry by comparing it to another’s because each of our callings are unique.
Our real failure would come by not becoming conformed to the image of God’s Son through and in the daily struggles and trials of life, as we pursue our life calling and ministry.
“Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
And so I press on in faith, reaching out for the manifestation of the things the Lord has shown me about this ministry. I’m trusting Him to lead and guide me daily. I’ll choose not to fear anything but God – in a healthy way – that motivates the dedication and repentance necessary for my life to be conformed to the image of His Son.
I’m going to continue to believe and speak, trusting God for the outcome. (2 Corinthians 4:13) (Hebrews 11:1)
This is His ministry. I’m His child and my life is part of His story! These three things remain: faith, hope and love.
.
Here are some worldly quotes about fear of failure to encourage you:
- “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
- “Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic.” – Anonymous
- “Don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t waste energy trying to cover up failure. Learn from your failures and go on to the next challenge. It’s OK to fail. If you’re not failing, you’re not growing.” – H. Stanley Judd
- “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible: the fear of failure.” – Paulo Coelho
- “You’ll always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
- “Forget about the consequences of failure. Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success.” – Denis Waitley
- “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up” – Thomas Edision
- “Remember that failure is an event, not a person” – Zig Ziglar
- “I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate.” – George Burns
- “It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” – Theodore Roosevelt
- “There is no failure except in no longer trying.” – Elbert Hubbard
- “If you’re not failing every now and again, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything very innovative” – Woody Allen
- “Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” – Denis Waitley
- “One who fears failure limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.” – Henry Ford
- “Most people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.” – Napoleon Hill
- “The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one.” – Elbert Hubbard
- “Failure is success if we learn from it.” – Malcolm Forbes