The story of my EPIC FAILURE

I got myself into a conundrum, a few years ago.

A lovely young lady had reached out to me. She had gotten my details from my former boss (which, in itself, was a testimony). She was planning an event for young Christian women and had been told about my blog and work with women.

If you had heard us that day you would have been certain it was ordained. We had similar insights and great ideas for the event.

For me, it was meant to be.

I was so excited about what she was looking to do and wanted to be a part of it.

When she mentioned that she would love for me to be involved in some way, my heart screamed yes because it just made sense…I believed it was an incredible way to give back. I said a quick prayer and rather than ask her to give me time to decide, I said yes immediately.

She promised to reach out closer to the event to confirm what I would do.

After the call, I felt a heaviness in my spirit, there was a sense of unease, but I brushed it off. Just like the devil to rain on my parade, right?
But as the day of the event drew near, my unease heightened until I took the matter to God.

And his response was unexpected, it was along the lines of:

“Did I tell you to do this?

Did you ask for my will before you said yes?”

 

To say I was shocked would be an understatement.

I tried to defend my action, I told him

“I thought this was what you wanted; for me to share your truths and encourage young women?”

A Dose of Reality

You can imagine that my initial excitement was doused by the realization that it was not what God wanted for me. I made this worse by not bowing out of the event. Instead, I claimed that I had given my word and had to follow through.

So, on the day of the event, I dressed simply and barely wore any makeup. I felt it was my way of paying penance (which was silly). When I got to the event, I met with the lady, you could see her reaction to my outfit…but I didn’t mind until she dropped a bombshell.

She wanted me to MC the event.

See, I’m no MC (master of ceremonies).

I’m usually the behind-the-scenes kinda girl. I’m good at organizing and getting things done. I was even more surprised when I agreed.?

Was I crazy?

Who does that?

Who says yes to another thing when they should have said no to the whole thing?

Suffice to say the whole thing was a disaster; I still cringe when I recall details from that day.

Aargh!

 

Reality Check or Life lessons?

Without boring you with more details of my royal failure, here are some thoughts and lessons from my experience.

I messed up. Why? Here are a few reasons:

1. I didn’t wait to hear from God. I did what felt right and good (even though I knew that the good thing is not always the God thing).
2. I tried to save face rather than bow out of the event. The interesting thing is that I know she would have understood. And even if she wouldn’t have, it would have been better to bow out earlier rather than going ahead with it.
3. I agreed to a role that was too big for me, at the last minute
4. I intentionally self-sabotaged almost as a form of penance.
5. I kept reliving my foolishness instead of being present and seeking to salvage the mess I had made.

Life lessons from my epic failure

Here are three incredible lessons I learned from my experience.

1. You can always say no

Of course, this is easier said than done. We all know that ‘no’ is the hardest word in any language. It is harder than doing a crossword puzzle with the pen in your mouth while standing on your head.

The difficulty in saying no reveals some other unsavory realities – people pleasing is insidious, shame is real, and fear is crippling.

The fear of being called a flake, being rejected, or being ignored will often have us carrying on and allowing things we should never have taken on. While mine was in relation to a big event, the same is true for relationships, career choices, and who we marry.

Yes, even if you were standing on the altar with the priest reading out your vows, you can still say no.

What God wants of you must ALWAYS trump what people want or expect. Always.

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Galatians 1:10(NIV)

 

2. Get Confirmation

There is a fundamental truth we must never forget:

‘It’s not about you’

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”

Galatians 2:20a(NIV)

You may have heard this scripture before and even quoted it a time or two, but do you believe it?

If you do then you’ll realize that we need the God factor in all we do, especially when we claim we are doing His work. If it is His work, then you should receive confirmation/approval to do it.

Now, the confirmation will likely come in different ways as the way God communicates with each of us is as varied as we all are.

3. Ask for forgiveness and obey quickly

Mistakes are inevitable, how we handle them is what matters more.

When the Prophet Nathan revealed David’s deceit, King David sought forgiveness and was ready to course correct.

When Jonah confronted the people of Nineveh about their sin they responded swiftly (see Jonah 3: 1-10).

When the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins what do we do? Do we repent and ask for help to remedy things or do we argue or ignore his direction?

I tried to argue my way out of it at first, which was a lost cause of course, but finally had to accept that I did wrong and needed his help.

In Conclusion: God’s Grace is sufficient

My key takeaway from this experience is this – our God is truly a gracious and loving Father. The fact that I can write and laugh about this is a testament to His abundant grace.

Will I try my hand at some MCing in the future? Absolutely, but I will make sure it is what the Lord wants of me. Lol

Have you had a similar experience? Please share.