Trying Audaciously

Something To Think About Trying:

“There are some things that are worth failing at.” I shared this piece of wisdom—at least I hope it is wise—with a friend who is one of the least likely to fail guys that I know.  I shared it with him because he is involved in a task that has many ways it can fail.  My friend is dependent on others for resources, both fiscal and personnel, yet he is in a position where he has very little if any authority to command those resources.  Others around him, often through ignorance, perhaps on occasion out of some malice, oppose him.  There is no clear manual for doing what my friend is doing.  He is taking knowledge and wisdom from other situations that are “kinda-sorta” the same and cobbling together a plan as he goes.  If he stops to work out a clear plan first, it is quite likely that the opportunity will vanish.   Why does my friend keep on?  Why do I encourage him to hang in there? Because what he is doing is that important.  Yes, he might fail, but then again, by God’s grace he might succeed. Jonathan was the Prince of Israel.  His people were vastly outnumbered and totally dispirited by their enemies the Philistines.  Oh, and other than the ones the King and his son carried, they had no weapons.  With that in mind, listen to this unpromising conversation between Jonathan and his armor bearer. “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.” (1 Samuel 14:6-7) Talk about a plan that appeared to be doomed to failure.  There were only two of them, and the rest of the army didn’t even know where they were.  They had a cliff to climb, and the first step of their audacious plan was, “to let them see us.”  So much for the advantage of surprise.  Jonathan surveyed the desperate plight of his people and concluded that this was a mission worth failing at. Too many of us will go to our graves swaddled in well-thought-out safety, never having tried anything great.  Only a few, like Jonathan and like my friend, will survey the field before them and say, “Here is a great task, ‘perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf.’”  Those who fail at such tasks are not to be looked down on or pitied.  Save that for those who never try. It’s STTA.