Are You Willing to Fail in Order to Grow?
Have you ever worked out with weights, or watched someone seriously work out? Those who want their muscles to grow consistently push themselves to the point of failure. They push their muscles till they cannot lift the weight for even one more repetition. That exhaustion and muscle failure is what causes the necessary stretching and tearing that allows for greater building. Often such workouts cause pain – and thus the expression, “No pain … No gain!”
You can “see” a similar philosophy demonstrated on the TV show, “The Biggest Loser.” Contestants are pushed to their limit – to their physical and emotional breaking points in order to change their understandings and ways of living. They learn to push themselves and work hard physically, mentally and emotionally. Those who press through the program are deeply changed. Their characters and work ethics are profoundly altered.
We all believe that hard work produces good results in athletics – do we, however, practically believe it to be true in life? Can character, or responsibility, or leadership be built through failure? Can over-commitment and taking on too big of challenges actually produce growth? Can we learn to serve through failing to serve well – through overdoing it to the point of exhaustion? We have heard so much about the importance of balance and boundaries that many among us are afraid to push ourselves hard enough to really grow.
“Muscles” – physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual – are built through exercise. Hard work causes growth – work that pushes through pain, that continues to work till the point of exhaustion and failure, and then incorporates time for reflection, healing and building. Growth will not come without exercise. You will not learn to pray without praying – sometimes radically praying – for long periods of time (when was the last time you actually did that?). If you want to grow in service or leadership, you are going to need to work at serving or leading – and even make mistakes serving or leading from time-to-time. You will often grow most when you are pushed to the point of failure – yet don’t give up, but persevere in the Lord.
God has designed life so that we will all be tested and tried again and again for the purpose of strengthening us – so that we can later strengthen others. Jesus knew that the enemy was going to test Peter, and that Peter was going to fail. But He prayed that Peter’s faith would endure – that he would be built through the hardship and become an encouragement to others. (Luke 22:30-32)
Are you interested in becoming a “body builder” – developing “muscles” that can bear real weight (whether physical, intellectual, emotional, social or spiritual), or do you content yourself with lamenting that you weren’t “naturally” given a “strong” body? Now might be time to rise up to the hard work of growth. Remember, sometimes muscle-building comes through short, intense workouts, and sometimes through long, sustained resistance – to the point of muscle exhaustion. Are you willing to go through different kinds of workouts in order to grow?
Growing with you,
Pastor Tom
tgriffith@rolcboston.org
