February 17, 2008...9:39 pm
You’ll Never Know Until You Try
“For God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.”
Have you ever experienced a failure that left you afraid to try again? I have. We all have. Somehow the old get up and go just gets up and goes. Deep inside we remember how badly it hurt. Why chance a repeat performance? Isn’t it easier (or is that safer?) to say “I almost made it”, than to face anew life’s more difficult challenges? Apprehension can paralyze our potential.
One day, I was teaching my son the fine art of catching a baseball in our back yard. He greeted each successful catch with a broad, infectious - almost enchanting smile. His delight brought me great joy. Of coarse, he missed a lot too and those near catches evoked his whimsical frown - more like a puckered pout. My son did not like missing as much as he liked catching. Who does? Then it happened. A high fly bounced off the tip of his glove striking Joey on the cheekbone. The impact wasn’t life threatening, but it shook his confidence a bit. Failure seems to have a way of doing that. I still remember that startled look as he hid his face in the glove and stood motionless on the grass.
“Are you OK?” I yelled, my voice cracking with fatherly concern. “Yes”, came the weak, unconvincing reply. And then, with his face still buried in the glove, Joe began to cry. So I ran toward him, touched with the feeling of his pain and I held him in my arms. “It’s all right Joe”, I said, “you tried.” Mistakes are bad enough, but this one hurt. He cried for a few moments and drying his tears I said, “Let’s get back to the game.” Without hesitation he replied, “No thanks”, as he ran off to take up a new, less threatening activity. Sometimes, in the face of a blunder, it’s hard to try again.
The Apostle Peter tried very hard to be a disciple. I’m sure he wanted to please Jesus. Quite often he would do what he thought was right only to be rebuked. His overabundance of self-confidence often manifest in the form of foot in mouth disease. Ever had that?
Joseph A. Cerreta, Ph.D., is an author, broadcaster, popular Bible teacher, and the Senior Pastor of New Covenant Family Church in Holiday, Florida. (C) 2006 by Joseph A Cerreta, all rights reserved.
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