Sometimes, we don’t have the opportunity to see the immediate effects of our actions. We set a goal that might have intentions to serve God, but the results are not what we expected, leaving us with feelings of failure and discouragement. However, we must always be certain that we serve a God who does not look away when we do things for His Glory. We may not see the immediate effects right after, or ever, but that does not mean that we failed or that God failed us. We must always be aware that there is a bigger purpose and that God causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love Him [Romans 8:28]. My last year of high school, I worked on a project that I thought was the ultimate way to praise God. However, I felt like I had failed God and my team when we saw that the outcome of our project was not what we had expected, but God came through to show me that He is always watching.
When I was in my junior year of high school, I was a member of the Christian Club at my school. There was a Christian organization in San Diego that gave each Christian club in the county $150 for each group to do something with that money – either make a project or try to multiply it for a good cause. At the time, the club officers decided to give that money to a family in need to buy groceries. I asked the club President how they came to a consensus about how the money was going to be used, and his ultimate answer was, that’s what this club does every year. I did not challenge it or anything, since I wanted to respect the leaders’ decisions. However, I knew that if I had the chance, I would try to do something different. At the end of the day, it was a blessing to the family, but I felt like we could try to multiply that money in some way to benefit more people.
By the end of the year, I was elected club President. When this same project came about the following year, I asked the club members if they wanted to try something different. I truly believed that if God was giving us the resources to try to multiply that money, it was just a matter of choice to pursue a greater blessing. We all chose to do a talent show in which our club members would perform, and we would charge the entrance which would include unlimited amounts of desserts for the guests. Our performers were going to sing, perform poetry, among other things. After we told our idea to our church partner, they decided to donate desserts for us not to spend the money that was given to us. A city official allowed me to borrow tablecloths they used for a city event for after-school programs, and another club allowed us to borrow some decorations for our event. We were ready for our talent show.
The day of the show arrived. Our club members stayed a couple of hours after school to decorate the theater. We fixed the stage, decorated the dessert table and had everything ready, and we opened the doors for our guests. However, we failed at a very important thing: we forgot to promote our event. Therefore, we encountered a big surprise: we only had about five guests who definitely got an unlimited amount of deserts.
However, I was bummed. I felt really disappointed since only a very small amount of people had attended our show. We raised a very small amount of money, and I felt that I had failed our team. We challenged the club tradition and it seemed like it did not have any positive impact whatsoever. But given that we had not spent one-hundred and fifty dollars at all, we donated it to an orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico.
A year later, I came back to my old high school and visited the Christian club members. As we were talking, they were telling me about that year’s project. The club president notified me that they did a similar event, but during class time and the cafeteria was packed! Literally, there were no empty seats, and a lot of people accepted Jesus that day. He told me that after seeing what we had done the year before, he was encouraged to create an event in which the gospel was spread, and people could feel the love of Jesus. I was completely delighted to hear this news.
It was after hearing this, that I learned the true purpose of the event we had the year before. God used us to ignite a greater movement. It was necessary for us to change that yearly tradition for the true purpose to come into life. Our event really felt like a failure, despite it having a relatively good outcome. But God used our actions for good and impacted a larger amount of people than we would ever imagine. Our event encouraged one person, and God used him to impact many more. Which is when I wondered, how many things have I done that I have perceived as a failure just because God has not shown me clearly how He turned them into a blessing? God’s plans are greater than we can imagine, and He doesn’t always show us exactly what we want to see, but that is when we have to trust that all things work together for good for those who love Him. We must continue to do things for His glory, and trust that whatever the outcome is, it will open bigger doors, even though they are different from our personal expectations. We must humble ourselves and learn from every situation, because God is always watching.
