Morning Watch Monday: Don't Fear Failure

Don’t Fear Failure

Have you ever heard of Michael Jordan? If your answer is “No”, might I suggest a lazy afternoon activity of Youtubing his highlights full of incredible dunks, shut-down defensive performances, or clutch shots that led him and the Chicago Bulls to 6 championship rings in the NBA. He was just so good, and he made it look so easy to be The Best EVER. Come at me Lebron-ers…

Yet, Michael Jordan readily admits that there was nothing easy about the success he had, and his road to being a great basketball player wasn’t pretty. I had a poster of MJ hanging in my room for a long time, and I still would if my wife was into the “dorm room” motif. The quote on the poster read:

I’ve missed more than 9,000 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 again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan spoke from experience that the road to victory is marred with failure, and many other “greats” would tell you the exact same thing. (see: Ernest Shackleton, Tiger Woods, Mia Hamm, etc…).

Yet we have grown up watching television shows and movies, and reading posts on social media which lead many to believe that true greatness is always glorious, clean and easy, blemish free, “no filter” needed. We are unaware of the days, weeks and hours that professionals have clipped, cropped, edited, polished, and poured over making these people and places appear flawless and smooth. However, because our lives are not flawless and smooth, we are left afraid to take any risk if we cannot be sure of a glorious outcome. We are afraid to experience anything because if we experience failure, then we are a failure.

The same fears are often true with how we relate to a good, holy and perfect God. Knowing that He is perfect, we are afraid that He would not want anything to do with us if he really knew our hearts have doubts and failures. Our fears often lead us to avoid even trying to engage with Him. Would God really have room for my mess if I showed it to Him, or would He reject me? I have good news and bad news: He already knows.

Psalm 139 says, O Lord, you have examined my heart, and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel, and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.

So how does God react to me if He knows all of this? Let’s look at how Jesus, God walking on earth, reacted to people who didn’t have it together.

Once he ran across a guy named Zach who was a well-known greedy and lying businessman. Zach got very rich from taking taxes that people owed the government, and overcharging them so he could pocket the money himself. Surely these moral failures would deserve rejection, right?

Jesus was walking through his town one day followed by a crowd, and walked right up to Zach and stared him in the eyes. A hush fell over the crowd as they were sure Jesus was going to call him out for all of the wrong he had done. I’m sure Zach thought the same thing, wouldn’t you? Instead, Jesus called him by his name and said, “Zach, come down here to me because I want to come stay with you at your house” (Luke 19).

Zach couldn’t believe it! Jesus knew who he was, and he STILL wanted to hang out with him! Jesus even went and ate dinner at Zach’s house with his friends, who were also known to be criminals! Jesus wanted Zach and his friends to know that the only way for them to truly be alive is to trust that God’s heart is compassionate and forgiving toward them. God wants to be with us, no matter how bad our mistakes or failures may be. Knowing God’s heart for us is the motivation for turning and leaving our messed up lives behind us to follow Him, and that’s exactly what Zach did!

Our road to try to find life on our own is marred with failure and selfishness, but through Jesus’ work on the cross, God has paved the road to forgiveness and new life. He does not want us to live in fear of failure, but to get out there and experience life as He truly made it for us.

Thought for the day: Jesus has a special affection for the messed up. In fact Jesus said, “I have come for the people with sick hearts, not for the people who think their hearts are well” (Mark 2).

Question to consider: If you dared to think that God wants to set you free to truly live, how would you celebrate? What would you tell Him you truly want that maybe you’re afraid to?