Weekly Devotional #002
Remaining Faithful In Our Failure
What do you do when you’ve been faithful to God in a particular area, but continue to see no fruit? Do you conclude that God is absent? Do you believe He doesn’t care? Do you suspect Him of playing a cruel trick on you?
When you’re in the depths of the disappointment of failure, these questions and more definitely arise. The agony of {perceived} repetitive defeat can be crushing to the faithful Believer. However, these feelings serve as sobering reminders of the truth found in scripture:
“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” - 1 Corinthians 3:6
The true disappointment of failure resides in what that failure represents - a lack of progress (or growth) in a particular area. Whether it’s the athlete who didn’t beat their personal best, or the real estate agent who didn’t meet their quarterly sales goals, failure reminds us of the growth that didn’t happen.
But here’s the painful, yet comforting reality - growth (progress) is NEVER achieved through the will of the Believer; it is only achieved through the sovereign will of God.
Yeah, sure - you might’ve worked hard and landed that job, but don’t get it twisted - the Lord was behind that 1000% of the way. And you may have had a great marketing strategy, but you better believe the Lord was behind all those sales!
So where does failure play into this reality? How can we remain faithful in the midst of it? Simple - we can start by submitting our hearts to the Lord’s sovereignty. Understanding that our faithful failure is anything but failure; we’ve been called to water and plant - the growing part is above our pay grade. Let that truth humble us.
Secondly, we can begin to ask God to make our hearts glad with our obedience, rather than the benefit our obedience may bring; that He’d help us be satisfied with being good stewards of His instructions rather than reward that comes from following them.
This is hard - this type of response to failure is reserved for mature Believers: the ones who have a greater revelation of their spiritual bankruptcy before an infinitely wealthy Savior. As I type this, I’m wondering how the heck I’m going to live this out.
Lord, would you make us mature Believers? Would you make us satisfied with obeying you alone? And, if this is the true desire of our heart, would you make your voice as clear as day to us in your Word? Thank you in advance, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Stay faithful, family. Even in the failure…
Love y’all,
Sheim
IV His Glory Clothing
Comments
Andy said:
Wow. This right here: “ we’ve been called to water and plant – the growing part is above our pay grade. Let that truth humble us.
Secondly, we can begin to ask God to make our hearts glad with our obedience, rather than the benefit our obedience may bring”
That was deep 🔥🔥🔥 Amen. Thank you for sharing of what God has given you. Praying for you Sheim and that God continue to use your shirts and products to transform lives.
May it all be IV His Glory,
Andy
Sal said:
Amen. Good word. Achievement is not how we are valued. But we continue to hold on to Gods right hand as he leads us. Because failure or disobedience is also not who we are. But as children of God. We have been saved. To understand his purpose for us. Continue the good fight Brother. Be Blessed
Toni said:
“…growth (progress) is NEVER achieved through the will of the Believer; it is only achieved through the sovereign will of God.” This right here is such a blessing to read. I’m just thinking of how I have become discouraged by the lack of growth and progress. Instead of remaining faithful I have fallen in certain areas. I pray God will forgive me and renew my desires, so that I would be satisfied with obeying Him alone. Thank you Jesus! I hope you continue to remain faithful in making these devotionals. God bless you!