Space for the King
By Thann Bennett
36 Solutions
I need to fail more. Look-
ing back on my life to this
point, I realize that I have not
failed nearly often enough.
I say that not as evidence
of how great I am, but in
fact just the opposite. It is an
indictment of how rarely I
have stepped outside of my
own abilities and into a task
where only the King can pro-
duce a victory. I have been
content to mostly stick to
tasks I am convinced I can
complete. It is a calculation I
make before I agree to start
something, or to serve some-
where. If my calculation tells
me that I have the skills and
ability to succeed, I trust in
myself and I proceed. But if
my calculation tells me that
I will fail absent intervention
from something or someone,
I take a pass and move on
to something more within my
control.
In doing so, I forfeit the
victory the King was plan-
ning. In Exodus 14, the Is-
raelites are finally on their
way out of Egypt after 430
years of slavery. It took ten
plagues from God to con-
vince Pharaoh to let the
Israelites go, but even then
the people were not able to
rest in a faith that their deliv-
erance was in God’s hands.
As soon as Pharaoh started
to pursue them, the Israelites
said to Moses:
Was it because there
were no graves in Egypt that
you brought us to the desert
to die? What have you done
to us by bringing us out of
Egypt? Didn’t we say to you
in Egypt, “Leave us alone;
let us serve the Egyptians”?
It would have been better
for us to serve the Egyptians
than to die in the desert! (Ex-
odus 14:11–12)
The people were terrified
to fail. They were terrified of
standing back to see what
God would do. And who am
I to blame them? Clearly, if
it was left to their strength
and their ability, they were
about to be either slaugh-
tered or returned to the
captivity and slavery that
had been their lot for nearly
half a millennium. It was a
dire situation, and they were
wishing they had not even
tried. I can relate. My flesh
prefers the status quo over
stepping out in faith only
to fall on my face. I am so