”What if I fall? Oh, my darling but what if you fly!”
I absolutely love this quote. I’ve seen it posted lots of times by friends and strangers. It’s often accompanied by captions that have encouraged and inspired me but I often find myself thinking… yeah the flying bit is cool but what if I do fall?
Failure is something that we don’t talk about a lot. It can be quite scary to think about really and often if those thoughts come up, it is our fear talking and we try to silence it. We are taught to aim for success. To study really hard so that we pass our exams, get into university, get a good job, get married, buy a house and have children. These days, it’s become more popular to rock the boat a little.
Don’t go to university, leave your 9-5 job and build your dream business, travel the world, become famous, start a blog, make music, fly to the moon if you really want. We are often told that if we do these things we’ll feel fulfilled because we’ll be successful.
But, what if none of those things happen? What if we never get married, what if we drop out of university or don’t get the grades we expected, what if we leave our job to start a vlog and no one watches our channel… will we still be okay then? Can we still be fulfilled?
The answer is Yes.
Yes, we will be okay. Yes, we can be fulfilled. And here’s why:
Neither our successes nor our failures define us. It’s our identity in Christ that defines us. Knowing who we are in God and trusting Him completely will allow us to be fulfilled, content and to remain stable; whether we are experiencing the highs of life or the lows. The bible says;
”God is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t worry.” – Deuteronomy 31:8
Knowing and living this truth will free you from worry, pressure and fear of failing. It will help you to not tie up your identity in your successes or even your failures. It means you can work hard and dream big, knowing that whatever the outcome, it doesn’t change who you are, who God is or how He sees you! You are loved by the King of the universe and nothing will ever change that!
