If you’ve already slipped on your New Year’s resolution then that title might sound like music to your ears. If you’re someone like me, it may hit you as a shock and cause your back to stiffen. Believe me when I say this has been a difficult lesson to learn.
When I first spoke to my husband about what I was feeling led to do, he told me, “Whatever you do you’ll succeed. You don’t know how to fail.” It was a strengthening encouragement, but it isn’t entirely true. I do know how to fail—you give up. I don’t even like to say those words when presented a riddle I have trouble figuring out. So the concept of giving up, failing, is not something I handle well. It reminds me of the quote by Thomas Eddison when he was asked how he kept going after so many failures. He said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Keep pursuing and the goal is just that much closer. That has been a drive within me as well, so long as I never stop trying then I can’t fail. We know from Romans 5:4 that perseverance produces character, but what if the goal you are pushing towards is not for you?
I have always loved architecture. Ever since my first drafting class in school I have been inspired by design. The combination of form and function coming together in practical artistry has not ceased to capture my attention. Years ago, I had the inspiration to design for a plot of land that held so much history. To weave the story of that place into every building we constructed was a dream that I poured over for decades. This past year I was hit with the fact that it was time to let that dream go. I had to give up.
The decision was not easy, and even writing this today brings tears. However, it taught me a valuable lesson. There are times when the desires of our hearts are not meant for us. That’s a hard fact to face. The world around us tells us to do whatever makes us happy and so we put blinders on to everything except what we want. As much as I hated letting go of my dream, and as heartbreaking as it was to realized I had failed before I’d barely begun, there is so much more laid out in front of me that the LORD has prepared. So I will declare, it is better to fail at that which is not meant for you than to succeed at something that draws you away from God’s plan. If I am to give up, let it be at every shining dream that distracts me from my purpose. Holding to that mentality, every failure is another line cut from an anchor weighing you down.
Maybe that is something you need to come to terms with as well. Is there a personal dream you have been clinging to with both hands, but now it feels like a weight you struggle to carry? Perhaps it is time for you to give up. In my situation I found God saying to me, If you’ll only let go, and make your hands open and ready, I will fill them with so much more than you could imagine. It takes humbling yourself to a good God to feel safe enough to fail. So how ’bout it? Are you ready to give up so that in Him you can succeed? Make your hands ready.
Author Dellaca Ferraiz Reynolds 