While we were newlyweds, my husband visited a seminary he was considering attending. His tour guide, an older student, gave him this sage advice:
“If getting a ‘C’ in class means getting an ‘A’ in marriage, take that ‘C.'”
Those words stuck with us, teaching us something that has applied far beyond classroom settings and marriage. Much as we want to do it all, and do it all well, we are limited human beings. We will not always succeed, and our prioritization will not please everyone.
The more reasonable goal is to fail at the right things.
Jesus was an expert at failing in the right way and neglecting the right things…and He is fully man and fully God.
Consider all those disappointed at some point by Jesus’ choice not to succeed in the ways they thought he ought to…
…The crowds he evaded, who were eager to force him to be king (John 6:15).
…Mary and Martha, grieving Lazarus for four terrible days (John 11:1-37).
…His family, so concerned by his behavior they called him insane (Mark 3:20-21).
…The disciples, distraught, dismayed, and perplexed, when he was arrested (Mark 14:50).
…The Chief Priests, when he emptied his own tomb (Matthew 28:11-15).
Though he had the power to, Jesus didn’t do it all. He only did what God commanded him to (John 5:19-20). He was willing to “fail” in the eyes of his loved ones and the world if it meant obeying God – even when he failed to do something one could argue is good like healing Lazarus or staying alive in the first place.
Jesus trusted that God’s way was the best way, even when it seemed counterintuitive, even when it meant disappointing someone he loved.
This Type A overachiever struggles with this. I don’t want to fail at anything, ever, even a little bit.
And yet, isn’t refusing the limits God sets for me or saying “yes” to a hundred things so that no one is disappointed failure too? Failure, in truth, to trust and obey?
Jennifer Dukes Lee writes in It’s All Under Control, “Nothing else on our to-do list matters as much as knowing we were completely obedient to his [to-do list].”
Sometimes we need to choose to fail at our to-do lists or at prioritizing what the world says is best. Because sometimes, doing so will be saying “yes” to God.
Jesus trusted that God's way was the best way, even when it seemed counterintuitive, even when it meant disappointing someone he loved. Share on X