Failing is one of my favorite things to practice

Have you practiced failing lately? Failing is one of my favorite things to practice.

Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in Heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:23-26

I used to be terrified of failing. The thought of trying, and failing to succeed, was paralyzing. So paralyzing in fact that I refused to obey Holy Spirit and step into gloriously terrifying opportunities to reach people, teach people, grow with people and go out into the world and make disciples. I used to refuse to obey the Holy Spirit and His leading me to explore my potential. Have you explored your potential?

Failure is one of my favorite things to practice now because failure has led me to discover many things about my heart and my potential. There are many things that I do not enjoy and many things that I do not excel at. In failing I have discovered that I do not enjoy sharing difficult and disappointing news with people I love. It’s painful at times to disappoint loved ones and not-so-loved ones too. I have also discovered that although I do not enjoy it, I can do it and still be whole. Still be OK. Still be valuable, needed, respected and known.

In failing I have discovered that I am not very good at building things…like tables. My table was wonkey, unstable, ugly and completely unusable. In building that table, that Zach so lovingly used to stack firewood on, I discovered that I am ok with creating things that are never used for their intended purpose and are not deemed useful or valuable by others because I can fail and still be whole, still be OK, still be valuable, needed, respected and known.

I have failed a lot and survived…in fact, I’ve thrived. I’ve grown, matured, discovered and discerned who God says I am in Him. Not based on my successes, but based rather upon His declaration of who I am through Christ Jesus. I want to fail more! I want to discover my true potential in Christ Jesus. I want to be used by God to bring life, healing, joy, peace, restoration, hope and everything else that Jesus is. I cannot discover this potential if I am unwilling to fail…a lot! What if He commands me to bring life to another in His name by painting, singing, building, exploring, writing or engineering? Would I risk it? Would I try it? What if He prompts me to bring healing to someone, in His name, by speaking to strangers, teaching children, traveling to foreign lands, learning to speak other tongues, moving across the nation? Would I risk the failure? Have I practiced enough?

So, I practice failing. Do you practice failing? Pick something today. Something you’ve never done, tried, explored or thought of and DO IT! Try and fail and discover the freedom found in submitting yourself to His willful desire to use you in the most uncomfortable ways. It is in our weakness that His greatness can be seen.

Peace and Blessings,

Sara Sutton