Q: A few years ago, I withdrew from God’s calling to me due to my fear of failure. Can I go back to this vocation and try again?

A.  The answer is absolutely.

Romans 11:29 says, “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” That means that even when God puts a gift inside of you and you don’t know how to obey and exercise that gift, He’s not going to say, “Oh, well, that’s it. I’m taking it back.” That is a part of Himself that He gave to you, so He’s not going to take it back.

We have to remember that God knows we’re made of flesh, He knows we’re made of dust, and He knows that it takes us some time to understand and trust. He also knows that sometimes, you might make a mistake, but He’s not worried about that, and neither should you be.

I always say that the person who’s making a mistake is at least moving. I’ve made mistakes, but I wouldn’t have made them if I was just sitting still, so they prove that I was really trying to do something. I’ll probably make more mistakes, and so will you, but we can’t let that stop us from giving out what God has put inside us.

You see, friend, these gifts aren’t just for us. The Bible says, “Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Corinthians 4:1). This means that we’re not just receiving this gift and letting it look pretty and decorative. No, it’s a responsibility. Being a steward is more like working in somebody else’s house. It’s their house, but the steward is taking care of it, and that is an active job. The Word says, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). It’s not your job to keep the gifts of God inside you — it’s your job to give them out!

This reminds me of an amazing evangelist named Kathryn Kuhlman. She would hold all these meetings, and the Holy Spirit would just flow into the room, and so many miracles happened, so many people being healed. I actually have a friend who went to one of her meetings as a little boy. He had a brain tumor, so his eyes were crossed, and he was in excruciating pain all the time. He didn’t even want to go to her meeting, but as he was sitting far off in the balcony, she said, “Ushers, bring that little boy down to me.” The second that she touched him, his eyes were normal, and all the pain was gone from his head.

The reason I’m telling you this is because this woman — who saw so many miracles at her own meetings — would pray before she ever went on stage. She would say every time, “Father, come with Your gifts. Come with Your power.” She recognized that all those miracles and gifts were not hers — they were from God.

I want you to remember these things, friend. First, the gifts inside of you are not for you. They are God’s gifts, and you are expected to use them for the people around you. Second, God is not going to take them from you. Religion is the voice that says, “If you don’t do it right, you don’t get it anymore.” But our God is not taking anything away. If you mess up, it doesn’t matter, because He gave it to you, and His gifts are irrevocable.