Mistakes? Or, Incredible Possibilities?
“Make new mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before.” ~ Neil Gaiman
Attempt: Create a wonder drug to cure disease
Result: A petri dish became contaminated with a mold. Voila. Penicillin.
Attempt: A replacement for rubber tires during the war
Result: Accidentally added an acid to the solution and came up with Silly Putty
Attempt: A meter to monitor power on naval vesels
Result: A dropped spring bounced and the Slinky was born
There is a tinkerer in each and every one of us. However, most of us never let the tinkerer out because we are afraid of failure. Failure is not always a bad thing. Failure, as seen above, has often led to inventions that would not have come about had not something been attempted.
Instead of staying with the “tried and true” in our spiritual lives, we should not be afraid to do other things. A failed attempt at a different type of prayer might lead us in a deeper direction in our relationship with God nonetheless.
I often wonder where my life would have led had I not attempted to join the Charismatic renewal as a high school student. I struggled with different types of prayer and with different types of ministry while a member of that prayer community. While not succeeding all the time, it did point out something to me: a deep-seated desire to serve God no matter where it might lead. Because of that, I set aside one avenue for my life and applied, instead, for seminary study.
God blesses our attempts whether or not they are successful. In retrospect, sometimes our failures have become our greatest successes. Think about that for a while.
FAITH ACTION: Think about engaging in a new ministry. Do not be afraid about making mistakes. Instead, think about the possibilities as you work with others engaged in the same ministry.