We’ve got your daily encouragement, written by Kelly Bryant.
Bible Reading:
Matthew 14:27
“But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.’“
Word:
A few years ago, prompted by friends who wanted me to cook for them, I started a meal prep business. My list of clients grew pretty quickly through word of mouth, and soon I went down to part-time hours at my job to focus more on building my business. I’ve loved cooking since I was a kid, but somewhere in the pressure to get into college and choose a major, I lost sight of cooking as a marketable skill and career path. I felt like I had reclaimed my passion and was finding my purpose. But despite my passion, I eventually made the hard decision to close up shop.
I didn’t have the infrastructure in place to support the growing demands of being the chief investor, one-person marketing department, menu planner, cook, delivery person, and accountant while trying to maintain my responsibilities as a wife, mother, and employee at the job that provided my health insurance. At first, I viewed closing as a failure. I put myself out there as a business owner and now had to tell my clients, my family and friends, and several random acquaintances who noticed I’d stopped posting about meals on social media, that I was no longer in business.
However, in hindsight, it was the connections I made in that time that led to me where I am now. I prepared meals for a couple who later opened a gym and hired me as the nutrition coach. If I hadn’t taken the step to start the business, I would have missed out on the next opportunity God prepared for me and community that’s such a major part of my life now.
Part of being courageous in our walk with Christ is being willing to step into the unknown. Whether you succeed or not, trying something new makes you brave. We see an example of this in Matthew 14:28-33. Peter, one of the disciples, saw Jesus walking on water. At Jesus’ command, Peter stepped out of the boat and started walking on water. He soon became frightened and began to sink, but the point is that Peter walked on water! Who else can say they’ve ever done that?
My guess is that Peter’s experience that day led to him becoming one of the greatest apostles to spread the Gospel and build the early church. I would hardly consider that a failure. Christian author Annie F. Downs wrote, “Brave people don’t let failure define them; they let failure teach them.” There are so many examples in the Bible of God telling people to be courageous. Have the courage to take a step of faith and trust that God will work out the rest!
Prayer:
Father, help me to have the courage to take the next step You are guiding me towards, even if there’s a chance I might fail. Help me to trust that Your plan for me is far greater than what I can ask or imagine. Help me to recognize that the world’s definition of failure and success doesn’t matter in Your kingdom. I want to see courage as the goal and leave the outcome in Your capable hands.
Skillwork:
Look back at the situations in your life that you consider to be “failures.” How has God used what seemed like loss, closed doors, or disappointments to bring something even better into your life?
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