Want To Acheive God's Perfect Will? Make Mistakes

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2


By: Carol McClain @carol_mcclain

I love stained glass.

I also adore anything complex. Simple bores me, and if I'm bored I lose interest.

My first solo glass

Therefore, my first solo stained glass piece was my own design of my Springer spaniel, Callie. Happily I cut and foiled and ground the glass. I'm very good at colors and textures, and my progress delighted me.

Everything fit together on the individual pattern until...

I put the whole piece together and began the soldering.

Suddenly gaping holes appeared in my design. Some potholes I could fit with small pieces of glass--others were too tiny to grind and foil and fill. My gorgeous, complicated depiction of Callie looked like it'd had a severe case of acne--pock-marked and miserable.

So I had choices to make:

1. smash my piece to smithereens
2. quit
3. finish the work and move on.
4. learn from my mistakes

Fortunately, I chose the last two.

later work

I filled in the holes with solder and it hangs in my studio--never to be sold or displayed, but a panel that delights me.

Today, my glass fits together better. My soldering is acceptable. My panels complex and beautiful, intrigue me.

But I haven't arrived.

And that's us in finding God's perfect will.

If we don't take risks, we'll never achieve God's perfect will for our lives. (Click to tweet) His path for us isn't straight--seeing as we've all sinned. Those detours, though, give us compassion and faith and understanding. We learn, grow and walk in the ways of God.

The following people prove I'm not an anecdotal example of success through failure. All of the following failed royally:

1. Jonathon Adler. The famous potter was told he'd never make it. Therefore, he tried all different fields and failed. Finally, he decided to be a potter selling wares at craft shows. Today, he has 28 designer stores around the world that I cannot afford an item from.
2. Walt Disney. He was fired from a newspaper because he lacked imagination and good ideas.
3. Oprah Winfrey. Had been fired as a reporter because she was too emotionally vested in her stories.
4. Steven Spielberg. The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts rejected him several times.
5. Vera Wang. She failed to make the 1968 Olympic Figure Skating Team so she got a job at Vogue. The hierarchy there passed over her for the job of editor-in-chief.
6. Thomas Edison. One of his school teachers told him he was too stupid to learn anything. He went on to be fired from a couple of jobs before the light bulb went off.
7. J.K. Rowling. Lived on welfare until she made magic with Harry Potter.

And too many others exist to name in one blog.

Don't quit. Don't fear mistakes. As Edison said about the invention of the light bulb: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." click to tweet