“Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” — John 7:38
Fearful or Fruitful?, by Betty Carlson

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I'm not at all sure what the ratio is, but I think there are around seven thousand “idea” people for every one man of action. As a successful executive once said, “If you want to be sure something doesn’t get done, appoint a committee. When our forefathers first forged their way across this vast land of ours, each man was swinging an axe. When I hire a man, I make sure that he is not against doing things himself.”

It is intriguing to me that no matter where you are, if you are sitting in a committee meeting, on a bus, or in the living room talking with friends, before long someone proposes a marvelous idea. It is talked about excitedly for a few minutes, sometimes days, or even weeks, but that is as far as it goes. All too soon the world witnesses the birth, life, and death of yet another good idea which was never put into action…seed that was never planted!

Why? Why are we so hesitant to act? Why do we spend so much time talking and so little time doing? Why do we so long for the fruit, but fear planting the seed and tending the field? I think one answer is that people are deathly afraid of failure. We put such stress on winning in our culture that we grow up thinking we have to win each time, and we know full well that if we try something new, we just might look foolish. So we choose to stay put, our hearts filled with dormant seeds—hopes and dreams the Lord has worked in, but that we are too afraid to work out. It is very possible we are bored, miserable, and weary, but at least no one is talking about us or laughing at us because our “hare‑brained” idea backfired. And so we remain fields with no produce and orchards without fruit—barren due to our lack of bravery.

Of course, carrying out a different idea involves risk. It is far easier to study agriculture and dream of great fruitful fields than it is to actually plow, plant, and prune them to produce the harvest! Fear and doubt step in to snatch the seed from us before it has even been planted. “If I move away from my hometown and leave my security what will happen to me?” (And yet for the past twenty years all I have done is moan about how stifling it is to live in this place.) You present all the logical reasons why you should launch out into new things, but the moment a friend supports your reasoning, you immediately drag out all the arguments why you should stay put, lamenting once again, “What will happen to me?”

One thing that might happen, you would be free for the first time in your life. There is great liberty in courageously carrying out an idea that has been knotted up inside you, lo, these many months or years. Of course, you must recognize there is a possibility your idea was not from God and it might not succeed. But take it from some of us who have had some splendid failures in our lives, there is exhilaration in defeat and losses, invaluable lessons to learn, providing, of course, you stride out from under the wreckage with determination to try again. Never pity the man or woman who has suffered great loss in life. Save your pity for the person who hasn’t dared anything, because, in a real sense, he hasn’t yet begun to live.

Often the world tries to picture the Christian as the quiet, mousy man sitting in his corner bothering no one. I see quite another picture as I read my Bible and history. The real men of God have always gone about setting the world upside down, because of their daring, different ideas.

Perhaps many of us need to pray afresh: “Lord, give me the courage, wisdom, and determination to dare one noble deed for You and not count the cost.” We need to change our sites from “What will happen to me?” to “What could happen through me!”


Betty Carlson was part of the L’Abri Fellowship in Huemoz, Switzerland (founded by Dr. & Mrs. Francis Schaeffer) for nearly forty years. She has authored or co-authored numerous books, including: No One’s Perfect, Right Side Up, and The Gift of Music. In 2011, she passed from this life to be with her Savior.

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