Seek Success As God Leads
If we would succeed, we must take risks. As Thomas Alva Edison pointed out, failure is but a stepping stone to eventual success. It’s not that we fail but we learn one approach that doesn’t work. We persevere. This needs to be our mindset. We keep asking, seeking, and knocking (Mt 7:7, AB). It is a can-do attitude. It is the attitude that “we can do all things through Christ” (Phil 4:13).
Fear of failure is not always bad. The person who bets all he owns on the roll of the dice is foolish. We need to weigh the costs and benefits of a course of action, the likelihood of success versus failure, and, most importantly, whether the Lord has clearly indicated that He wants us to take the risk we are considering (Ps 143:10, NLT). If we are not sure what He wants, then we must use wisdom to take risks that are calculatedly favorable. Yet, our approach should be to seek success rather than to avoid failure. When you play to not lose, you have a much better chance of losing since boldness, determination, and vigor have much to do with succeeding while being tentative, anxious, and indecisive contribute to failure.
All this having been said, we must recognize that all of us have weak areas in our faith (Rom 12:3, AB). There are limits to how much we are able to suffer. Yet, our Lord won’t give us more than we, by His grace, can manage (1 Cor 10:13, CEV). Ideally, we will not fear failure (2 Sam 22:30) and will encourage others to do likewise. He can strengthen us but He also knows our limitations and weaknesses (Mk 14:38). Let us, then, not fear failure but be directed by the Spirit of Him who knows the best path for us (Jn 6:39).
With the weak, we need to avoid both destructive responses and placating.