Scripture: Genesis 24:1-27 (p. 21)
Secrets of Success
Introduction
I have a film trivia question for you to begin with. Identify the source of this
quotation: "Failure is not an option. Failure is not a part of our vocabulary."
The quote comes from the film Apollo 13. At a particularly tense moment in a film
made up of an extraodinary number of tense moments, the mission commander in Houston
says "Failure is not an option. Failure is not a part of our vocabulary." It's
a wonderful line. Very stirring to the soul.
But there's a problem. When the mission commander makes his speech, Apollo 13 is
already a failure. In fact the whole story of Apollo 13 is a story of a disastrous
failure. The mission had achieved none of its objectives. The only success that
could be hoped for was to save the lives of the three astronauts caught in the disaster.
And what drove NASA scientists to work so hard to save those men? What made them
so frantic? What got their adrenaline pumping? Fear of failure. They were scared
-- and what they were most scared of was the shame of failing. Having to face
a whole nation and admit that they had failed. And it was a realistic fear. They knew
very well that no matter how hard they worked, not matter how smart they were, that
ultimately they stood a very good chance of failing.
"Failure is not a part of our vocabulary" was just an attempt to cover over the obvious.
They were scared stiff of failure. Fear of failure was driving them.
And if I look at my own life, I see the same thing. I see fear of failure driving
me at every turn: Why did I work so hard in school. Love of learning? No!
Fear of failure. Why did I never have a date in high school? Fear of failure.
Fear of rejection. What was the hardest thing about losing my academic position. A
sense of having failed. And you want to know the deepest fear that I face when
I think about our church -- the fear that I will fail all of you.
And I know that I'm not alone. I see signs all around of people are driven by fear
of failure. All I have to do is scan the articles in Reader's Digest. "10
Steps to a successful marriage" "15 ways to get rich quick. " "Secrets of successful lovers."
What I'm saying is that fear of failure is a very basic, elemental fear. And I think
its probably a safe bet that if you look deep enough you will find somewhere there
a fear of failure gnawing at your heart. Fear of failure in your career. Fear
of failure in marriage. Fear of failure as a parent. And the problem is, as with
Apollo 13, the fear is quite realistic. You certainly will fail at some of these
things. And no matter how hard you work, how smart you are, you will still fail.
And even if you did have a wildly successful life, in the end you will face the ultimate
failure -- death -- and no one will much care about anything you did. Happy thought!
So if I'm right -- if fear of failure is a deep, driving force for almost all of us,
then the question is this:
How should a follower of Jesus deal with this fear of failure that gnaws at our hearts?
How should a Christian think about Success and Failure?
Keep that question in mind and turn with me to Genesis 24. In this chapter we have
the story of a man who faces an impossible task, and who faces the fear of failure.
Here's the setting: Abraham has come to the end of his life. And he is enjoying
the blessing of God. He has seen the promises of God fulfilled. He is prosperous.
He has a son. God has blessed him in every way. But there is something missing.
No grandchildren! How can his descendants become a great nation if he has no
grandchildren. Yet Isaac has no wife.
Clearly something must be done about this. So Abraham calls in his chief of staff,
and this is what he says to him :
vs. 3-4
Think about what he's asking. This poor man is being told to travel hundreds of miles
by camel, to a place he has never been, to people he does not know to find a girl
and to persuade her to leave her family forever and to come with him to be the wife
of a man she has never seen and knows nothing about. It's an impossible task.
But the servant is a polite sort, so he asks a clarifying question designed to point
out the difficulty of the task: vs. 5
He's clearly afraid of failure and looking for some way to salvage the mission.
And his solution seems reasonable. It would be alot easier to find the bride if
he could take Isaac with him. But Abraham will not compromise. Isaac must stay.
Under no circumstances is Isaac to return -- he makes the servant promise never to take
him back.
Abraham remains supremely confident that his servant will be successful. What gives
Abraham this confidence? How can he be so sure of success?
Two things:
He is confident of God's power
. And he is sure of God's purpose
. He knows that God's will cannot be thwarted. And he knows that it is God's will
to provide Isaac with a wife. And when God's power and God's purpose come together,
there can be no fear of failure. To paraphrase the mission commander from Apollo
13: For God, failure is not an option; Failure is not a part of God's vocabulary.
If God is in something, it will happen.
Listen to what he says in vs. 7: The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out
of my father's household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on
oath, saying, "To your offspring I will give this land" -- he will send his angel
before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there."
The reason that Abraham was so confident that his servant will be successful is because
he was absolutely sure that it was God's purpose to provide a wife for Isaac, and
when God purposes something there is no fear of failure. God will see that it is
done. And for Abraham that translated to the simple assurance: "He will send his
angel before you."
It's like this -- Whenever the President of the United States goes anywhere on official
business, hundreds of staff are sent ahead to prepare the way for him -- all of them
committed to insuring his safety and success. They are sent ahead to make sure
that the right people are there to meet him at the right time. That the wrong people
are NOT there. They make sure he knows where to stand, where to sit -- that he
knows what to say -- and what not to say. Everything possible is done to insure
that he is able to fulfill whatever particular mission he has.
This is exactly what God will do for us. When we are on His official business,
he prepares the way ahead of us. He is there ahead of us to set things up. In
any situation that you walk into, if you are pursuing God's purposes you can have
total assurance that he has sent his angel before you -- that he has set things up before you
arrived. That his purposes will not fail.
-- If you walk into a difficult situation where God is calling you to show love to
someone who is hurting. You have no idea what to say -- you feel completely out
of your depth. God has sent his angel before you.
-- Or say you have a neighbor who is not at all friendly. But you know God has called
you to love that person and be a blessing. So you go out on a limb to go over and
talk with her. God has sent his angel before you.
-- say you come to work, and you know that God desires you to be a witness there,
but you have no idea how.
Do you believe this? If you really believe that God has sent his angel ahead of us
-- what should the result be? The answer is obvious to me: Courage. Confidence.
BOLDNESS.
And this is exactly what we see in Abraham's servant.
1. His first response to the assurance that God will send his angel ahead of him
is simply the BOLDNESS to obey.
vs. 9-10
The task still seems just as impossible -- but he is no longer facing it alone.
He has the confidence to take on the impossible because he has the assurance that
God is involved.
You know, the task God gives us is not all that different from the task that Abraham
gave to his servant.
Abraham was seeking a bride for his son.
He sent his servant out into the world to find a girl he did not know, to persuade
her to come to marry a man she had never seen.
God too is seeking a bride for his Son. He sends us out into the world to search
for people we do not know, to persuade them to follow a savior they cannot see.
Both tasks seem equally impossible. But if God is involved -- if he has sent his
angel ahead, we have no fear of failure. We should have the courage to obey boldly.
2. Bold obedience is the first step. The next is boldness in prayer.
vss. 11-14
This is an audacious prayer. To see just how audacious, let me try paraphrasing
it into modern context:
Then the servant took ten of his master's camel and left, taking with him all kinds
of good things from his master. He set out for Western Massachusetts, and made his
way to the town of South Hadley. When he came into town he asked directions to
the Laudromat -- after all, he had been travelling a long time and he had not done laundry
for weeks. He tied his camels up outside. Then he prayed, "O Lord, God of my
master Abraham. See, I am standing outside this laundromat, and the daughters of
the townspeople are coming in to do their laundry. May it be that when I say to a girl,
"Please could I borrow some detergent" and she says, "Why don't you let me do all
of your laundry for you -- and I'll wash those camel saddles for you too. Let her
be the one."
How often do you pray like this -- so specifically, and with such boldness? What
gives the servant the confidence to pray like this? He knows that God has sent
his angel ahead of him.
3. Boldness in Obedience. Boldness in Prayer. Then, Boldness in seizing opportunities.
vss. 15-25
If you are going to be bold in prayer, you had better be prepared to follow it up
with action.
For example, You might be bold in prayer this week and say, "God, lead me to someone
who needs to hear about you this week. And let me know by causing that person
to ask me a question about you." If you pray like that, you had better be ready
to jump on the opportunity when God answers that prayer.
4. And finally, when he is successful -- on his first try, mind you -- how does
he respond?
Does he say, "Wow! What a remarkable coincidence! This must be my lucky day."
No! vss. 26-27
Because he has been trusting God for success, when success comes he is Bold in his
worship. He holds nothing back. He throws himself to the ground in worship.
I have noticed in myself that I am often far too slow to praise God boldly for his
mighty acts. God heals, and I say "now isn't that nice." God provides in some
amazing way, and we say "now isn't that a wonderful coincidence."
What's the difference between me and Abraham's servant? He really believed that
God was in it -- that God had sent his angel ahead. So when he saw the results
there was only one thing to do -- fall down and worship.
I see in Abraham's servant the marks of someone who has trusted God for success --
1. Boldness in obedience
2. Boldness in Prayer
3. Boldness in seizing opportunities
4. Boldness in worship.
What keeps us from such boldness?
One of two things:
Either we lack confidence in God's power -- we aren't really convinced he is able.
Or we are unsure of God's purposes.
But there is no reason for either of these. God has made his purposes clear to us
in scripture
If you know what God's will is and you are seeking it; and if you are relying on
God's promises, then you can be assured that God has sent his angel ahead of you
and you need not fear failure. If your will is wrapped up in his will, you can
have complete confidence of success.
This directly addresses the fear of failure that drives us. If we look for success
not in our own efforts, but in accomplishing God's will, then we need have no fear
of failure.
Failure is not a part of God's vocabulary.
Benediction:
A blessing from Psalm 20: 1,4,5
May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May the Lord give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our God
May the Lord grant your requests.