10. Just keep trying.
9. Try to determine what is working.
8. Try to determine what is not working.
7. Try to find someone who’s done it.
6. Try to ask for help.
5. Try it again tomorrow.
4. Try it a little differently.
3. Try it once more.
2. Try it again.
1. Try.
Y’all notice a theme there? I love this list! I don’t know if you’ve seen it before, but I got it from a poster at work. And being that I desire to live according to the word of God, I’ve grabbed instances in the Bible where people have put these guidelines for success to work; because unless these steps line up with the word of God, they’re just flowery words that will ultimately lead to failure, if one chooses to build on them (Lk 6:46-49). Some in the Bible needed to apply many of these steps and some only a couple, but they’ve shown that with God anything’s possible (Mt 19:26).
When Jesus’ disciples went fishing on the sea of Tiberius one night and were not able to catch anything (which must’ve been extremely frustrating considering at least two were career fisherman and nighttime was the favorable time to fish), they followed the instruction of a man that they did not recognize as Jesus to cast their net on the right side of the boat, and caught so many fish that they couldn’t pull the net onto the boat (Jn 21:1-6)! Theses disciples decided to try once more the next day, after presumably fishing all night until early morning. They knew enough to put their experience to work, but also had enough sense to know that it wasn’t working, and they then tried it a little differently. And although Jesus was a carpenter, by trade, he was also 100% God and 100% man, lived a perfect life, and defeated death (Mt 13:55; Jn 1:1-2, 13; 2 Co 5:21; 1 Co 15:55-57). Who better to listen too? He’s done it all! Although they didn’t ask the man for help, thank God they were willing to take his advice.
Before his death and resurrection, when Jesus walked out onto the lake to catch up with the disciples that he’d sent forward, and they were scared -thinking he was a ghost. He told them, ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’ Peter then asked him to invite him out onto the water. And at Jesus’ the word, Peter was able to walk on the water, as Jesus did. But then, instead of keeping his focus on Jesus, Peter considered the wind, and began to sink. He then called out to Jesus, crying out, ‘Lord, save me!’ And immediately, the Bible says, Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, and said, ‘You of little faith. Why did you doubt?’ (Mt 15:22-31) Peter saw what was working, asked for help, tried it, saw that focusing on the situation wasn’t working and cried out (tried it again). Imagine if Peter hadn’t trusted in the Lord. Not only could he have drowned (It’s possible.), but he wouldn’t have been added to the two man list of people who’ve walked on water!
Similar stories are found in the Bible, where those who were casting out demons learned that if you don’t know the Lord for yourself, it can be detrimental to your well being to use his name (Ac 19:13-20). David took the tools of his trade along with him (a staff, sling, and five smooth stones), as well as an assurance of victory in the Lord, instead of the bulky armor of a soldier (1 Sam 17:38-40). And he didn’t need a sword either. He just used Goliath’s to cut his head off (v. 51). Timothy lead a successful ministry after being mentored by Paul (1 Tim). And Job refused to curse the Lord during his trials, but in his affliction was restored twice the amount he’d lost after praying for his useless ‘friends’ (Job).
These people put forth a genuine effort to reach whatever goal that was ahead of them and were made successful because of their faith that they put into action (Jas 2:17). And God, not being a respecter of persons, if it was doable for them, it’s doable for us through our Lord Jesus Christ (Ac 10:34; Php 4:13).
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