This is a personal story of the writer, Daachiever Inc. is not responsible for the thoughts of the writer; any contradictory opinion about the writer’s account shall be addressed in the comment section.
What do you do when failure overshadows your faith in God? Is that when you should trust God more or wait for timely help? Here is an experience of mine with failure. What should you do when failures come knocking in at the door? DO NOT GIVE UP.
2nd September 2017, something spectacular happened to me, changing the trajectory of my life. I saw it coming, but I wasn’t fully prepared to face the brutal blows that life would throw at me at the time (Often, those blows come at us unprepared). I had no regret about what happened, but I am overwhelmed with this debilitating fear of the unknown.
This fear dwells on how to start a new life with a changed ambition and identity. The fear of starting all over again, of being consumed in the inferno of societal pressure. The fear of being tagged a failure and having a taste of being rejected.
I locked myself in the room, solemnly asking the God of open doors to redirect and navigate me to a newly opened door of opportunities. But there seems to be no hope of any entry. Not even the faintest sight of a close door to make a push. As I sat suffocated with anxiety and despair, different thoughts came rushing through my mind, ungodly as they were. I allowed it in.
God came right in the nick of time (He always does, we have to be patient), disguised in human form knocking on my door. I opened the door to find my mother, standing with love in her gaze. Immediately I opened the door, she dashed to my bed, opened one of the many plates on the floor of my room, surprised to discover that I had not eaten the whole day. That was when, she turned to look at me, letting out a soft sigh; she spoke:
“I’m so proud and thankful to God that he gave me a son who is determined to succeed. But what you need to know is this, before you become anything else, you are my son, my priority and joy. To the best of my knowledge, you’ve been the best son every mother wishes to have. I’m not saying it’s wrong to aspire to be great, of course not. The joy of every mother is to see her flesh and blood achieve what she couldn’t.”
“You can be anything you want to be for the sake of seeking validation from the society and rendering service to humanity, but to me, you’re my son. And if you eventually don’t turn out to be what you aspire to be, you remain my son, and I will love you no less.”
” I’m proud to say, I gave life to you, and it will not be wrong for me to say I know you more than you know yourself. I know your capabilities and weakness. You have no idea of who you are; because if you do, you will give glory to God forever. See you na (she jokingly added), just yesterday I gave birth to you o; and now you have grown to be a man”, she said smiling. I had no option than to let out a half-hearted smile.
” Now listen, don’t you ever allow anyone to look down on you without your permission. Things might or must not always work at your own pace. You have nothing to lose by pushing harder.”
“But I feel like I’ve lost everything and I’m afraid… ” I responded to her encouraging words.
“Listen, my son, you’ve lost nothing”, she cuts in. “You have been preaching this Bible to me, now is my turn to preach to you”, she said, flipping through the Bible.
“Do you remember that portion of the Bible where Joseph’s brothers conspired to sell him off to the Ishmaelites out of jealousy in a bid to stop him from fulfilling his dream?
“Yes, Mom”
“Okay, did his being sold off as a slave by his brothers; stop him from fulfilling what God has destined for him?
“No, Mom”
“You see, my son, you are born to be great. My instincts told me that even before you were born. Like Joseph, you shall flourish wherever you are planted. Don’t you ever allow anyone to make you feel you are not enough? Don’t you ever let anyone make you feel you are a failure? You’re only a failure only when you resign yourself to fate and throw in the towel.“
“And if I must be sincere to you, I’ll have to say that it’s too late to resign now because you have gone a long way and you are just an inch away from the finishing line. As far as I’m still alive, I will never watch you fail. Just know that even if the whole world says no to you, I will say a trillion yes to you.
“I brought you into this world, and it’s my responsibility to help you navigate the world. So, what the world thinks about you doesn’t count, what counts is what God thinks of you, and what your parents puts faith in; our faith is on the thoughts of God over your life.”
Her words that day changed my perspective about life and its struggle. A short while after my discussion with her, a few days after, I found myself slipping into a chronic depressive state, almost claiming my life. Her words kept me bound, this broke my defences, and I vowed to live for her. Can a Christian go through depression, you ask? Well, the answer is YES. But, depression is not a sin. Read this article: How to overcome depression as a child of God.
Today, I’m alive and happy because of her words. Words have the power to build and destroy. Why not use your tongue to build an empire for humanity today instead of using it to destroy others?
5 Things to do when failure overshadows your faith in God:
From the story, it was made clear that even believers go through tough times, but we have our saving grace in God. What strategies must we put in place to reinstate our faith in God over failures?
- Practice Thanksgiving, an example is the Psalmist in the Bible, King David was a man of praise in every situation, whether good or bad. Praising God activates your faith and helps you remember God’s faithfulness over your life.
- Learn from your failures, the reason why you failed might be your fault and no one else. Take a break if possible, to self reflect. It helps you stay coordinated and refreshed.
- Change Your environment: One way to build self-confidence is by tricking your mind to register you are happy even when sad. You change your physical environment either by standing at akimbo smiling or even listening to music that stirs up happiness in you. It helps you avoid being moody.
- Stay refreshed by praying and claiming God’s promises: The Bible is filled with enough promises to fuel our faith and fan out our failures, study it. It might not be so easy, but you can grow in it. If you want to know whether you are growing spiritually, read this: How to measure your spiritual growth.
- Filter your circle: This means, you should be careful of the advice you follow from people who claim to love you. It is relatively easy and tempting for you to make a rash decision when you have failed at something; especially if it is recurrent. Be careful of what you feed your mind on either on the media or what people tell you at your lowest time.
Related: When Faith seems to Fail
Never forget, even at your lowest times; you should reflect God more. Do not trade away God’s precious gift of love and salvation because of the recurrent failures. You are not an ORPHAN in God’s kingdom; you have a Father who is willing to hear every petition. He has a track record of not leaving any prayer unanswered, be at rest; your answer is on its way.
