Reading Reflection:

Rescuing Ambition, by Dave Harvey (Crossway, 2010) In this book, Harvey encourages godly Ambition, and contrasts it with selfish ambition.  You can view the website for his book at www.rescuingambition.com .  There were many great sections on which to reflect but this one speaks particularly to my heart:

In the shadow of failure we find humbling grace.  We learn that we’re limited….We find our definition not in our failures or successes but in Christ…Remember, we fail because we’re not God.  Whether it’s the result of selfish ambition or the design of God for our good, failure isn’t foreign.  Failure is ambition refused (one way or another) for a better plan.  (152 & 153)

Many times we are so afraid of failure, that we don’t take risks.  In this case, we may be missing out on an opportunity God has in store for us.  The Lord gives certain gifts and desires as part of his will for our lives.  Godly ambition is good in that we are using our gifts with passion, all the while depending on Christ for God’s glory.  Our identity is not in what we are doing, but what he has done and is doing now.  Yet it still hurts when we think the Lord is calling us in a certain direction, and we do not succeed.  Sometimes that is part of His plan as well, using these times as an avenue to teach us something or to open other doors.  In hindsight we learn.  How we react in such situations reveals to us what we really care about:  accomplishing that goal (selfish ambition), or trusting in Christ no matter what.  We learn not to identify ourselves with our successes or our failures, but in the One who is completing his design for us. (Phil. 1:6)