More than Conquerors

I receive an email devotion from a Canadian pastor I once met. I met him in my church in Jarabacoa of all places and have been receiving his devotions ever since. They are always edifying, but one line in one of his recent emails cut straight to my core."What would you do if you knew it was impossible to fail?" I was challenged and wanted to answer it. Here are the first things I instinctively jotted down:

• I'd speak up more.
• I'd love better.
• I'd follow my heart.
• I'd take more chances.
• I'd see myself differently.
• I'd be myself.
• I'd do everything that scares me.
• I'd really be living.

I surprised myself a bit because I expected to write down some specific desires of mine that make me apprehensive because of the thought of failing. Instead it ended up being a much larger and broader list - really getting at the core of how I'd live, not what I would specifically do.

The more I think about it, the more I see the fear of failing as toxic. As we walk into our God-given destiny of becoming more like Him and of living out the calling He has on our lives (which is more about how we live than what we do), we cannot be afraid and we cannot see ourselves as failures. We are simply not. Since the Bible is clear that we are more than conquerors through Christ, it is in fact impossible for us to be failures.

So, what would it mean if we understood this truth? How would we live if we understood each opportunity, whether big or small, as just that - an opportunity for growth and learning? Not something that we have to do perfectly, or get a lot of recognition for lest we've failed. Understand me here. I'm talking about taking chances that God puts in front of us, not disobediently taking chances that are against the Word and very Spirit of God. But the Lord, our perfect Daddy, wants us to open up and live freely. He puts great things in our midst and in our paths, but I see many of us, myself included, who shy back and say, "What if it doesn't work?" "What if I don't succeed?" Well, we did succeed. The second Christ was resurrected from the grave, we won. We succeeded. 

I'm challenging us to stop thinking of ourselves as failures. Who even sets the bar for what a failure is except God Himself? Who is the Judge, and what does He say about those who've been washed in Jesus's blood? I want us to think about things we don't do or the way that we don't live because of fear of failure. And who are we afraid of failing? Is it fear we'll fail others? Is it fear we'll fail God? Is it fear we'll fail ourselves? Is it fear that our worthiness will be taken away if we don't do well enough or if things fall apart? Friends, our worthiness can't change. It's impossible. Just like it's impossible for God to change. 

So, live today as though you cannot fail. Remember, it's impossible. God is the one who decides if you are a failure - and He already said that you are more than a conqueror. 

Peace.