Free from the Fear of Failure – The Law of Liberty (31)

Free from the Fear of Failure

The Law of Liberty (31)

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us… Ephesians 3:20

Yeah, and that’s precisely the problem: we are so limited in our experience of the power of God’s Spirit that we never bother to think what God might do in or through us, and, consequently, don’t ask Him to do it. We are constrained by our self-image and experience from taking up challenges far beyond our abilities because we fear that we might fail if we reach beyond ourselves in seeking to serve the Lord.

But this is precisely where we need not fear at all! God’s power–His Spirit–is in us; He is teaching and filling and gifting for ministry and bearing fruit in us! Do we think that the Spirit could fail in anything He might undertake? May it never be!

But don’t miss the significance of what the Spirit is doing in us. The Lord told Ezekiel that, when He gave His Spirit to His people, He would teach and empower them to obey the commandments of God (Ezek. 36:26, 27). As long as we’re “in sync” with the Spirit–focusing on His agenda, walking in step with Him (as J. I. Packer has it)–we can expect Him to do exceeding abundantly more in us that we could ever accomplish on our own. So we do not need to fear failing in our efforts to serve the Lord, because the Spirit Who teaches us God’s Law also empowers us to obey it–exceeding abundantly more!

The Law of God, in the hands of the Spirit, liberates us from the constraints of our own abilities. The Law and Spirit together are the power of God to give life and strength to our daily walk with the Lord (John 6:63). As we rest in Him and take up His agenda, we can be confident that God will do His mighty work in and through us. So let us not fear failure! Rather, let us dream big dreams and pray bold prayers, pleading with God to do in and through us precisely what His Law promises and His Spirit empowers.

Daily meditation in the Law of God helps us along the path of holiness, righteousness, and goodness (Rom. 7:12). Order your copy of The Law of God, a compilation of the Mosaic Law for contemporary believers, and The Ground for Christian Ethics, by T. M. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, click Publications, then click Waxed Tablet, and scroll down until you see these companion volumes.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.