God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son from whom would come a great nation, but the couple waited and waited and nothing happened. (It turns out Sarah was barren.) Sarah got the idea for her husband to "go into" her handmaid Hagar. It happened, and out came Ishmael. Was this, then, the promised son? It wasn't.

The promised son came years later when God miraculously invigorated Abraham and Sarah, and Sarah produced Isaac.

Moses grew up in Egypt ignorant of his Israelite heritage. Israel was in bondage in Egypt during this time. When Moses discovered his lineage, he witnessed an Egyptian abusing one of his people, and he killed the Egyptian. Would God by this means use Moses to free Israel?

Nope. Instead, Moses fled into the wilderness, where God kept him for 40 years before sending him to Egypt HIS way.

In both these instances, an act of flesh preceded an act of spirit. And yet God never condemned the act of flesh. The act of flesh was the characters of the context wondering, "Is this what God wants me to do? Will this produce the promise?"

God gave me a similar experience between the years 1984 and 1994. I had a dream and a goal, in 1984, to speak in churches. I had confidence. This dream was promptly wrecked and my confidence got shipwrecked. Ten years went by (my "40 years" in the wilderness), during which God wrought a miracle, bringing me to a podium with a total LACK of self confidence.

What a contrast. Here's the story. I'm sure you'll be able to see how God has done this very thing in your life. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, because God will always use these as raw material for a move of the spirit. Absolutely speaking, there are no mistakes anyway.