Author Mark Batterson continues Chapter 9 of All In by differentiating between two basic types of people- those who ask why and those who ask why not. Why not people go all out and look for God-ordained opportunities. Why people look for excuses and are afraid of making mistakes.
Pastor Batterson believes we’ve conveniently forgotten that earthly life is a battlefield: “The cosmic battle between good and evil rages around us all the time, yet we live like it’s peacetime.” Righteousness cannot be reduced to the absence of wrongdoing. We must get on the offensive and pick our fight. Picking a fight begins with prayer. Prayer is where the battle is won or lost. Prayer is God fighting for us, not us fighting for God.
When we take a stand, we await what God will do next. Essentially, we need to choose a dictator. In the aftermath of a numbing adversity such as a ministry downsizing or vocation loss, we are subject to dictators like pride, anger, and jealousy. Those dictators, Pastor Batterson notes, affect our decisions in subconscious ways. But the worst dictator, fear (especially of failure), governs through intimidation. The author concludes by describing the connection between failure and success:
“Failure is not the enemy of success. It’s the greatest and closest ally! . . . Failure is part of every success story. Think of it as a prologue. You have to choose a dictator. You can let fear dictate your decisions, or you can let faith dictate your decisions.”
Today’s question: During your desert, transition time, has fear or faith been your greatest dictator? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “The risk spectrum”
