The Beauty of Failure

I don't know about you, but I fear failure. According to some sources, the fear of failure is one of the most common (if not the most common) fear among people today. 

The fear of failure is not a new thing. I bet Moses related. I was thinking about this as I have been reading through the book of Exodus. God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, but he feared failure. What if they won't listen to me? What if I don't have what it takes to do the job? The fear of failure is rooted in thoughts of inadequacy. 

Inadequacy is simply a loss of perspective. It is taking out eyes off Christ and fixing our gaze on our own abilities and failures. When we fix our eyes on Christ, inadequacy does not exist because we know who he is. And there is absolutely no inadequacy within the person of Jesus Christ. He is entirely able. 

So God tells Moses that he will be with him, and he need not fear failure with the Lord on his side. 

As the Lord explains to Moses what he is calling him to do, he commands Moses to confront Pharaoh and ask him to let the Israelites go. Then he tells Moses something strange. He warns him that he pharaoh will not listen. 

Call me crazy, but it almost appears like God was leading Moses on a mission that was going to fail. Now we ultimately know that the Lord would deliver Israel from Egyptian captivity, but as you read through Exodus, you will quickly see that it sure took Moses a lot of failure to get there. In fact, basically every thing Moses did failed or backfired. 

And yet the secret to all this failure is a buried treasure in the book of Exodus. Time and time again, it is written "so that I will gain glory for myself" and "so that he Egyptians will know that I am The Lord." God's whole plan was to get the highest amount of glory. While Moses seemed to fail, God was actually working everything together for his glory. Is it possible that God is most glorified through our failures and weaknesses? I know from the life of Moses, that he definitely uses our failure to bring him the most glory.

This makes me ask this question: does God still act in this way sometimes? Meaning, does he still call us to failure at certain times so that he can get the highest possible glory? And am I willing to fail for the glory of God? In a world where success is idolized, am I humble enough and yet confident enough in God's power to bring myself to failure after failure in order to glorify Him in the highest way? 

I am still asking God what exactly this looks like in real life. Because I know that God blesses those who love and follow him, and I also know that we are not supposed to live life with the intention to fail. But I do know this: God is able to use our failure to bring him glory, and I want to be willing to give up my dreams of success and embrace failure if it means bringing glory to God and leading the nations to Christ. 

The fear of failure must be surrendered to Christ. Feelings of inadequacy must be committed into his hands so that we can lift our eyes and fix our gaze on Christ's ability, adequacy, and perfection. Our world defines success in many false ways, but the true measure of success is found in Joshua 1:8 which says, "Keep this book of the law always on your lips. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Only then you will be prosperous and successful."

I wonder if Joshua learned this from his teacher, Moses - That success only comes from knowing and obeying God's word. I bet Moses knew that better than anyone else. 

My heart smiles when I read Moses first faith-filled statement found in Exodus 14:13. Before that point, all of Moses words had been words of doubt and inadequacy. But here he is in Exodus 14:13 proclaiming to all the Israelites as they are leaving Egypt, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still." 

All Moses' feelings of indaquacy and all his failures are summed up in this beautiful statement of faith. Thank you, Moses, for reminding me that my failures are worth it for the glory of God. Thank you for teaching us that success comes from knowing and obeying God's word. And thank you, God, for being more than enough when we feel inadequate. 

All our successes and all our failures are for you.