“Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.” – Psalm 25:12The significance of this statement is the promise of instruction for those who fear God, not who fear failure (or even the lack of success) itself. Instead, it’s a promise for those who know and trust the power and ways of God, who fear being out of His will, who fear losing His favor or leading. These come with two different starting points. It comes with two different motives and two different trajectories that will lead us in two different directions. These differences determine our journey.
The problem might be in how we evaluate success in the first place. Our nature is to allow the ends to determine our means. Do we really measure success the way God measures success? That’s a deep rooted and loaded question. There are many layers that have to be peeled away in order to find the truth. And probably only God knows where we stand.
I was having this exact discussion this week with a friend when he said “I’d rather fail than succeed if it meant I had to do it with my own strength rather than God’s leading.”
Sadly enough, I used to perceive a statement like that to be lazy or an obvious excuse for a recent or impending failure. And it may be for some. But for others, it’s really a powerful statement of faith. And I’ve found that when they mean it, they really mean it. (They also seem to be the guys who have peace in their lives…hmmmmmm) According to Psalm 25, if we believe and live by this fear of God, “like an archer shoots an arrow”, He truly will instruct us on our journey.
And any success will be His success. Anything else, will not be credited as success (nor righteousness). Do we believe that? I wonder how offensive it is to God when we claim to be men and women of faith yet fail to live and lead anything close to this way.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” – Psalm 139:23-24
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Doing things without God on my own has ALWAYS gone bad for me. Stress mounts and even when I think I got it done, it never works out the way I thought it would. Doing things with God is easier and harder. You have to let go of things and really truly believe that God will give you everything you need and not give you what you can't handle.
ReplyDeletewhat a timely article for me. as a participant in the capital markets, fear and greed are two key attributes at the moments of trade execution. even as i stew in these matters on a daily basis, your article shed some needed light. a frustration we are having is knowing how to deal with success. this heightens my fear of failure tremendously.
ReplyDeleteyour article truly helped me clarify the following:
fear of failure/success = the worldly view; therefore fear not
fear of God = God's world, therefore, listen, obey, and honor God
Thank you for the clarity.