Fierce Faith: Fighting Fear & Overcoming AnxietySample

Moving Forward in Hope

Have you ever said to yourself: 

“I didn’t know it was going to be this hard.”

“I can’t do this anymore.”

“I’m not good enough.”

“What was I thinking when I thought I could do this?”

If you have, you are in pretty good company. These statements are rooted in a fear of failure. And failure is a looming fear for most of us. Fear of failure is the belief that I need to perform well, succeed at everything, and never show weakness, or something bad will happen.  

Often our fear of failure isn’t the fear of failing in and of itself; it’s that we fear what the results of that failure might be: rejection, loss, financial destruction, and loneliness.

But what if . . .

What if we could believe that failure is the rich soil where our faith grows?

What if we believed failure was full of new insights, wisdom, and knowledge? What if we could see that failure filled us with humility, gratitude, and even a little grit from the battle? 

And most importantly, what if we believed God doesn’t see our failures, but sees our future and holds it all in his hands? 

I can’t help but think if we looked at our failure through the eyes of God, we wouldn’t fear it in the least. God sees every one of our missteps as a new opportunity to trust him.

With this new outlook on failure, we’re free to move forward in faith. But sometimes once we get started, we’re met with a second wave of the fear of failure. And we may be tempted to quit what we just found the strength to begin.

We want to quit our relationships, a new project, a healthy discipline, and the list could go on and on. But there’s a secret to not quitting: We can strengthen ourselves not to quit through scripture. In fact, I have a list I call my “Don’t Quit” verses:

And in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. (Colossians 2:10)

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

When I remind myself of the things I can do in God’s strength, the voice of the enemy gets quieter and quieter until I can’t hear the lies anymore. The results are up to God; he just asks us to be faithful to do (and keep doing) what he asked.

If we are living and breathing, we are going to fail, mess up, and make mistakes, over and over again. If our response is to believe the lies of the enemy, we will be stuck in fear, but if we believe the  truth of God’s grace, we will be able to keep moving forward in hope. 

Prayer:

Lord, I’ve been afraid to begin, and I’ve been afraid to keep going because I didn’t want to fail. I need a fresh understanding of your power to strengthen me for the job and redeem my failures. I am relying on you to get me through, God! Amen.

Action Step:

Think of a failure that you have recently struggled with. How do you think Jesus sees that situation? Ask him to show you what he sees and what he wants you to learn from it.