What amazing things would you do if you couldn’t fail? Oh, think about that for a second. If failure were off the table, wouldn’t you go for it? Wouldn’t you do it? And wouldn’t you do it now?

But, here’s the problem … failure is always on the table. And it’s probably on your table.

But it’s not because you’re not good enough. It’s not because God isn’t for you. It’s because failure is part of the plan, Sis. Failure is how we learn. Failure is how we grow. Closed doors are not only to keep you out of the wrong rooms, but to keep you walking down the hall to get to the right rooms with the right opportunities and the right people.

So the better question is, what would you do if you knew every failure could be used and there’s a wide open door for you in places you can’t see yet. Would you dare go in faith and push through your doubts and fears to get there? Would you keep getting up? Would you keep showing up? Would you keep trying? There’s very likely a life beyond your wildest imaginations waiting for you if you do.

Here’s what we miss … for every single thing that’s way bigger than us, we have Jesus. For every single thing that just won’t work, we have Jesus. For every thing that is too hard, we have Jesus. For every thing that we don’t know, can’t do, can’t fix and can’t make happen, we have Jesus. You’re letting the potential off all the hard unknowns scare you into a corner, but Jesus is darn good at handling the hard part.

When you get to the hard part, just remember, this is where Jesus comes in!

When you fail, you have Jesus. When you don’t think you can get through this, you have Jesus. When you can’t see the way, when you don’t have the answers, when you’re weak and weary, when you’ve come to the end of yourself, YOU HAVE JESUS!

15 years ago yesterday, I received a message from an old high school friend who was struggling. She was a single mom of 4 little boys. Every relationship had failed. She was struggling financially. She didn’t like who she saw in the mirror. Her entire life was nothing like what she had imagined, and for some reason she felt maybe I could help her.

What she didn’t know is I was an over-weight mortgage broker who lived in a house I couldn’t really afford and kept buying more things to make me happy because that God shaped hole in me was empty. Why would she reach out to me for help? Because my Facebook photos were photoshopped and my posts were nothing but positive. (I’m just being honest). But she desperately needed someone to invest in her. Someone to remind her of her worth. Someone to push her in the pursuit of a better life. And I just couldn’t say no.

Her exact words to me were, “Pamela, I’m a worn out, stressed out mom and I just want to be a Smokin’ Hot Mama.” So, that day I went on Facebook and I started a page called ‘The Smokin’ Hot Mama Club.’ A place where she would check in and I would encourage her. Sounds great, right? Well … the only problem was that little page I started was public and by the end of the day I had 30 people on it who were eager to be reminded of their worth and pursuing a better life. (Okay, probably only 10 of them were seeking that … the other 20 were looking for a biker gang, dancers, or a love connection.)

15 years later, it is now what brings me into your life every day. How crazy is that? BIG Life first began as something totally different, and I didn’t even mean to start it! If I would have known back then that it would become this today … wow, I would have left my job sooner! Losing most everything along the way would have been a lot easier if I would have know it was all leading here. My countless failures weren’t fatal afterall, but they certainly felt like it when I was in them. If I would have only known where God was leading through all those failures.

BUT WE DON’T. We don’t know where failure is leading, we just know it’s so darn hard when you’re in it. But now I know, when you get to the hard part, that’s where Jesus comes in!

Are you in the hard part right now? Ahhhhh, my sister, Jesus has never been closer! He’s right there with you. He’s making a way through this. He’s doing what only he can do, and what he can do is the impossible stuff! If you have some impossible stuff on your hands, just go ahead and give it to him. He’s really good at this part!

Several hundred years before Jesus, there was a King named Nebuchadnezzar who got caught up in riches and fame and he built a 90 foot tall gold statue and made everyone bow down to it anytime music played. There were 3 young men who refused to bow and worship the statue and this enraged the King. So he had all 3 of them thrown into a fiery furnace that was heated 7 times hotter than normal. The men were tied up and thrown into the fire. But when the King looked into the furnace he shouted, “Look, I see 4 men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god!” They walked out of the flames, untouched and they didn’t even smell like smoke. Afterward, the King bowed down to the true God and promoted the men to high positions. (Daniel 3)

God did the hard part! He did the impossible part! He’s really good at that.

But the 3 young men didn’t know what God was going to do on their way into the furnace. We never know what God is going to do stepping into the flames.

A few chapters later, in Daniel 6, we read of a man named Daniel who was well liked by King Darius. Daniel had been chosen and promoted. But, just as Kings often do, this King too became caught up in riches and fame and decreed for 30 days no on could pray to anyone but him, and if they were caught praying to anyone or anything other than the King, they would be thrown into a den of lions.

But, Daniel still went home and prayed to God, so what happened … he was arrested and thrown into the lion’s den to be eaten alive. But God does things we cannot do. He does the hard stuff. The next morning, the King rolls the stone from the lion’s den and finds Daniel still in one piece, miraculously unharmed. And Daniel says in 6:22, “My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouth so that they would not hurt me.” Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in his God.

Afterwards, Daniel prospered.

But making the choice to pray to God when it was forbidden was hard. Seeing the lions coming at him was hard. Spending the night with the lions was hard. Daniel had no idea amazing things were on the other side of this hard.

I don’t know what fire you’ve been walking through, or what lion’s den you’ve been stuck in, but I know this much … you’re not alone! This is where Jesus comes in! He does the hard part. The part you could never do on your own. The way you could have never seen is the way he’s making through it.

While you are not promised to be isolated from the hard stuff, you can count on Jesus being there for the hard stuff.

Don’t hold back. Don’t give up. Don’t settle for less. This is the hard part where Jesus walks you through that fire, seals the lion’s mouth, breaks those chains, tears down those walls, parts that sea. You can’t do it, but he can.

Remember, for this, you have Jesus.

Over the past 15 years there have been some ridiculously hard things I would have absolutely avoided. Things I wasn’t prepared for. Attacks my heart wasn’t strong enough for. Demands I couldn’t balance. Twists and turns I would have never chosen. But for all of this, I had Jesus. And Jesus knew it would all lead to YOU, and you would be worth it. Now, I get to talk to you … how amazingly cool is that?

I don’t know where you’re going and what you’re going through on the way there, but I know this much for sure, Jesus has got you through the hard part. You can’t do this without him. And even with him, it won’t be easy. But one day, maybe 15 years from now even, you’ll look back and see how he was faithful with all the hard stuff and brought you to a future that is better than you could have imagined.

The hard part … yeah, that’s for Jesus. You can trust him.

Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela
Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim
Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com