One of the major themes of the Bible is that: FAILURE IS NOT FINAL. We can risk failure because we know that God is a God of a second chances. We can recover from failure because we know that God forgives and restores.
Consider the story of Jonah. The prophet Jonah was called by God to a missionary ministry to the city of Nineveh, sort of an ancient version of Las Vegas. But when Jonah disobeyed God, he ended up in the belly of a fish, with seaweed wrapped around his face. I suspect he felt like a failure. To be honest, he was a failure at this point. But failure is not final, God is a God of second chances.
Because we are secure in our relationship with Christ, because we know He will forgive us when we need it, because we know he believes in us, we have the security to risk failure. So, I encourage you to try something that may not work. You never know. It just might work. I would not have given you a nickel on a dollar that we would ever sustain a group to meet at 7:30 a.m. Sunday mornings for Bible Study. But it hasn’t failed. In fact, it has served a tremendous need. It has increased the options that we are able to offer to the community. But the point is—it might have failed. No one knew for sure. Only those who risk failure have the opportunity to receive great rewards. You cannot steal second with your foot on first. In order to discover new oceans, you have to lose sight of the shore.
Perhaps there was a time in your life when you sought to do great things for God. . . but failed miserably. Maybe you discovered that it is easier to quit dreaming than to keep failing. Maybe you tried to implement new strategies in your small group ministry, but they didn’t quite work out, and now you are playing it safe. I have good news. Failure is not final. I invite you to become a dreamer again.
Josh Hunt. 1995. You Can Double Your Class in Two Years or Less
