Many years ago, a friend of mine told me of some odd advice given him by his high school counselor. This friend was brilliant and was headed to the Air Force Academy. He was successful in everything he had done up to that point. But his counselor advised him to purposely choose to do something he would likely fail. By risking failure and stretching beyond his natural abilities, he would experience disappointment first hand. Then he could learn to move past the failure rather then allowing it to crush him.
So he took his counselors advice and joined the track team. He chose an event for which he had no natural ability. He struggled and struggled but pushed on. At the end of the season, he wasn’t a total failure but he certainly was far from the top of the field of athletes. The experience impacted him and gave him a different perspective. I have lost contact with him over the years but I have not forgotten his counselors advice. I’m sure risking failure early in his life helped prepare him for all the challenges during his military career.
As I look back over my life, I see myself almost always choosing paths that fit my natural abilities. The goals I sought were ones that with some hard work, I could actually accomplish on my own. I’m not saying that everything fell in my lap or was easy. But what I am saying is that I have stayed within the boundaries of my own human strength and ability. It’s not often that I have stepped outside the possible and stretched myself. But risking failure is what I ventured with dirt bike riding.
Let me explain. In 2009, I broke my leg while riding with my husband Tim, on the back of his dirt bike. I was wearing a helmet but I was not prepared for his heavy motorcycle falling on my leg when we lost control in mud. If I had been wearing proper foot gear, I’m sure I would have avoided injury.
Nevertheless, when my leg twisted under the bike, I experienced extreme pain comparable to childbirth. I knew immediately that it was broken. But we were out in the middle of nowhere. It took all the grit I possessed to get back on the motorcycle behind my husband to ride out. Ultimately I needed surgery and a titanium rod and plates placed in my left leg and ankle. It took about 6 months but my leg is back to normal. I rarely notice problems with it now
For a couple of years, I was deathly afraid to get back on a dirt bike and no one blamed me. But then it struck me. Why am I frightened by this? Tim could teach me how to ride and after a little convincing, he did. I even took lessons put on by ABATE. Since then, we have ridden on numerous trails in Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia.
My skills are improving but does this activity come naturally to me? Certainly not! I struggle every time we go. My mind is constantly assessing the obstacles in front of me. Do I need to downshift and give it more power to get up this hill? Should I go around a muddy area or through it? Can I make it through this creek or is it too deep? Tim says eventually I won’t have to think anymore. It will just come to me what to do. This hasn’t happened yet.
The trail rides are a challenge for me and I fail in some way every time we go. But aside from a few bruises on my body and my pride, it’s good for me. I am stretching myself beyond my natural abilities. As long as Tim continues to have patience with me, I will persist through the failures.
Stretching beyond our natural abilities is really what God asks of us. He has done this throughout history. Virtually no one when a God-given task was presented to them said, “Sure, I can do that.” Even Moses argued with God to send someone else to Pharaoh. To go and do what God asks us, we must risk failure. Our human abilities will fail us. We must trust that God has a bigger plan. It’s when our possibilities end, God-possibilities begin. Faithfully moving forward even when we can’t see any way we will succeed, is when God reveals His power.
Later in Moses’s life when he sent twelve spies into the land of Canaan, ten of the spies returned afraid and reluctant to proceed into the land because of giants they found there. Only Joshua and Caleb looked beyond their natural abilities and trusted in God for their success. Because the ten spies convinced the Israelites that the land could not be taken, they did not cross over the Jordan River but wandered in the desert as nomads. Forty years later, Joshua and Caleb were the only two of their generation to actually enter the Promised Land. They had faith that God would take care of the giants and He did.
So what are the giants that frighten you? We all have them. I challenge you to stretch yourself beyond your natural abilities in small choices first. Trust God to get you though, just like Joshua and Caleb. When a big task comes along that will take a miracle to accomplish, then you will have confidence to move forward in faith even if it means risking failure. Overcoming my fear by learning to ride a dirt bike helped prepare me for the bigger challenges God knew were coming in my future.
When you’re risking failure and stretching beyond your natural abilities, God will go before you. Trust Him to conquer the giants in your path and open up miraculous possibilities.
