Fear of Failure
Masterpieces aren’t born; they’re made. What this means is that in order to become the masterpieces God is seeking to make us into, we must step out in faith, allowing God through both our successes and failures to shape us into His masterpieces.
But here’s the problem — we are so afraid of missteps and failures that we never step outside of our comfort zones. This faithless living incarcerates us in cocooned lives, preventing us from experiencing the extraordinary things God has for us.
Let me ask you something. What are your dreams? Are you willing to believe that God is the inspiration for those dreams? Are you ready to trust God to turn those dreams into reality?
Now, let me ask you something else. What is holding you back? What is keeping you from stepping out in faith, taking a risk, and pursuing your God-given dreams? More likely than not, it is your fear of failure.
The fact is, you will fail. And you will fail because failure is a part of life. As babies, we learn to stand, to walk, and in time, to run, but only after repeated failures. If you have ever invested the time and effort to learn to play a sport or musical instrument, you have undoubtedly experienced multiple failures as a part of the learning process.
And that’s the point. Failure becomes our teacher. In time, as we persist in spite of our failures, we learn, we grow, we succeed. What I want you to understand here is that God uses our failures. God turns our failures into stepping stones. Stepping stones to success.
So don’t be afraid to fail! Some of life’s most valuable lessons are learned through our failures. And the most valuable lesson of all is that God’s goodness and grace set us free from the fear of failure allowing you and I to invest our lives for our good and God’s glory. This is the lesson of Jesus’ parable of the talents.
In Christ,
Dan
This is an excerpt from my book, “Masterpiece in the Making: Life Lessons for Spiritual Growth.”