Isn't God Above It All?

One of the most universal fears we face as humans is the fear of failure. Why start a new diet when I’ve failed a hundred times already? Why write another book when the others didn’t sell? Why take that leap to start a new business when my other attempts didn’t succeed? Why bother meeting new people when some of the friendships I had are no longer?

So, I’m going to tell you something about me… I’m a professional failure, if I was to give an opinion about myself from a worldly stance. If I get an idea, I run with it. If I want to learn something new, I do it. I’ve written over 30 books back when I was a fiction writer. I even started and published a magazine for two years. I’ve run several small businesses, and guess what… I failed most of the time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not having a pity party. Not everything I’ve done has ended in failure, but more often than not, most things have when it comes to my professional and creative life.

I don’t want to tell you how awful the cycle of hope was. Every morning I would wake up, rush through my Bible study, and log on to the computer to check if some miracle happened overnight. Did I sell a good number of books? Did I get any sales in my online shop? Any magazine copies distributed? This was my cycle for years. And every time I looked at the numbers, my hope would quickly fade. But the next morning when my eyes opened… there was that hope again. I remember saying to God, "I don’t want to hope anymore. I’m a failure." For years after that, when I came up with a new idea or wanted to try my hand at learning something new, the thought would be put away before I could begin making a plan. I was afraid to hope. I was scared of coming face to face with failure again.

But I have a weapon that keeps me going…

I want to take you back a few years when I was at the height of my “what’s the point” season. I went to meet up with an elder in my church. She was one of the most amazing human beings I had ever been blessed to know. She was the person who gave me the courage to be myself, unafraid. She would laugh and talk about her failures, her mishaps as a mother, her less-than-stellar moments as a spouse. She never denied herself the extra serving of cake. She was… free to be who God created her to be.

One visit, I was so down. I felt like I was just failing in every area of my life. I couldn’t lose weight, I struggled with addictions, I was flailing and confused about everything… I grew up in a trauma-filled environment, so as a mother of three, I felt like everything had to be perfect. As a wife, I felt like I had to be perfect. As a friend, as a successful person, really… at anything. As if it would bring me some sweet validation. So, I spoke to this wonderful lady about it all, and I let the tears fall. After a time the conversation changed as she reminded me that it takes a lifetime to conquer the layers that make me who I am. What she wanted to know right then, was what God had placed on my heart to do.

“I want to write this book that I had an idea for, but what if this one fails too?” She just grabbed my hand in hers and squeezed it gently as she shrugged her shoulders. “What if it does fail? Sure, it’ll be disappointing, and it might hurt for a bit, but even in the failure, you’ve honed your skills. You’ve written the story that was rolling around in your head. But no matter what, I want to leave you with this question because life is too short not to ask yourself this: Isn’t God above your fears and failures?”

And that, my friends, is the weapon of a question that I ask myself every time I go to turn away from anything that comes my way. That beautiful, wise soul changed my life with one simple question…

It became so much more than something I would ask myself about business, books, and so on. Because in all honesty, my professional outlook and goals changed when I began to see God above human validation and what real success meant. It also the question that would pop into my mind as I faced my traumas, dealt with my past, walked through the fire, feared what was ahead, and faced anger from things that happened to me in my life. And somewhere along the way, the question changed and became…

Isn’t God above it all?

So, you might fail at something. Does that mean that God loves you any less?

You might not step out and take a chance because you’re afraid of what you don’t know. Does that mean God will walk away?

You might stumble and fall on your journey. Does that mean God's grace isn't enough to pick you back up? Nope, Nope, and NO.

Here’s the thing I’ve come to embrace. Our biggest critics are ourselves and the expectations we put on ourselves in every area of our lives. When you fail at something, it doesn’t mean you’re a failure. You tried, and I’m pretty sure God’s proud you gave it a go. You stepped past your fears to give something another shot. To me, that makes you brave.

Psalm 73:26 reminds us, "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

So next time you're on the verge of giving up or not even starting, ask yourself: Isn’t God above it all? And know that you're not alone. We all have fears and failures, but God is always with us, above every challenge, and His love never wavers.

What fear or failure is holding you back today, and how can you remind yourself that God is above it all?

Yours, Sarah - Little Sparrow Loved.

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