D2 - Permission to Fail

Perspective on a journey can do wonders! With a bit of perspective, though you may not be where you want to be, you can see how far you've come in your journey. The following tool was shared with me by Mike Breen (3dministries.com) years ago and has served me a thousand times over to encourage me in my personal journey as well as in leadership. This wonderful tool is called the Discipleship Square which identifies the four stages of growth, giving perspective for those on the journey! For this blog post I would like to focus on the second stage of the square (Discipleship Stage 2 or "D2"). Whether you're learning to ride a bike, developing new skills in the workplace, or growing in a relationship with God, your spouse or friend, the Discipleship Square can provide perspective that will encourage you to stay on the journey and bring you closer to the vision God has for your life.

The four Stages in Summary:
D1 - We're EXCITED about the vision God has set before us, but lack the competence (character and skills) to succeed.

D2 - This stage sets in as soon as you feel the floor fall out from beneath you and suddenly you find that the excitement you had in beginning this new adventure is met head-on with the stark reality that you don't YET have what it takes to succeed. Your failures eclipse any successes, therefore I like to call it the "What the heck happened" stage! I would like to share the main temptations we all face in D2 along with the two things GOD provides that will enable us to endure and grow in D2.

Tempations:

1. Jump Ship - As the heat of difficulty rises, often we choose to QUIT. We're afraid our little boat is taking on too much water and decide to abandon any hope of success. These are those who "gave Jesus a chance," but found the path of discipleship too costly.
   
2. Passivity - This happens when we choose the path of least resistance, while remaining engaged in appearance only. Passivity is the reason we have so many Christians who attend church, bible studies and events regularly, but haven't grown much in 30 years! Passivity enocurages us to do just enough to maintain the appearance of spirituality while avoiding the deep issues in our lives. Escapism, disengagement and pity parties are typical of yielding to this temptation.
   
3. Get a New Vision - This temptation lies to us and tells us we're struggling so much because our vision is NO GOOD and a new vision would be more exciting and better for us! This often leads us into a vicious cycle of failed adventures.
   

God's answer to D2:

1. VISION - God never gives up on His vision for our lives. There's no 3 strikes rule. God is absolutely committed to our growth and success. We are his children and our immaturities, insecurities, and failures don't scare him! God's vision for our lives is always accompanied with the disclaimer that HE, NOT WE, has what it takes to grow us into the VISION! He gave us the vision, so we can trust that He will love us into it.
2. GRACE - God's grace is His supernatural power to make the impossible possible. He does this for his children. His grace sets us free from our past, sustains us in the present and opens every day into our future.

God will never communicate anything but VISION and GRACE to us in D2, so ignore any other voice. D2 is the necessary stage of growth that develops in us the character and skills which will enable us to do what we could not do before. Through us, God turns impossibilities into possibilities! We cannot skip D2, but through God's grace and a continual reminder of His vision for our lives, we can endure and grow through D2. The results are heavenly maturity!

D3 - We find ourselves in D3 as God's grace transforms our character and equips us with new skills. In this stage God coaches us as we move forward with renewed confidence and competence.

D4 - In this stage our competence has developed to the point where we are now ready to lead others around the Discipleship Square.