Fear Of Failure

Have you ever had the chance of a lifetime, but were just to afraid to take it because it wasn't a "sure thing?" Have you felt led by the Lord to do a ministry but didn't do it because you couldn't see yourself going because you lacked the skills? These are all common events in the Christians life, but they're also common mistakes. Why?

God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7, NLT).

Living the Christian life and walking in the Spirit will take you out of your natural comfort zone, but put you into a supernatural comfort zone!

Jesus, and later the apostles, are our examples. Their message of the cross was radical and their opposition was great. But they didn't fear failure and were at peace, because God and truth were on their side. Even martyrdom didn't stop them.

Some Christians are so afraid of failure that they become reserved, overly cautions, and uninvolved in life. They follow a strict policy of guarded living, holding back time, talents, and treasure from God's service. Their motto is: To keep from failing -- don't try! We must not be this way.

On the other hand, those who are willing to make mistakes and risk failure are the ones who wil ultimately achieve great things. Instead of being filled with fear, they go forward in faith. Problems are challenges. While they may not all be solved, these courageous people would rather live with that reality than have a clean record of no failures and no accomplishments.

Benjamin Franklin once said, "The man who does things makes many mistakes, but he never makes the biggest mistake of all -- doing nothing."

Thomas Edison didn't meet all his goals, but it is said that he saw every failure as a success. The story goes that he failed 10,000 times in his storage battery experiments. But Edison said, "Why, I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

What if, out of fear of failure, Edison had quit after the first few unsuccessful experiments? Maybe someone else would have invented it, but maybe much later, and Edison would himself had failed his God-ordained calling.

Let us, as God's people, empowered by the Holy Spirit, full of faith and power, not fear anything, especially failure. We must be fearless. "If God is for us, who can ever be against us?" (Romans 8:31, NLT).

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline" (2 Timothy 1:7, NLT).

"The LORD who created you says: "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior" (Isaiah 43:1-3, NLT).

Fear is the opposite of faith. Doubt is the opposite of belief. Don't be a doubting Thomas. Move forward with your Godly pursuits. Take a step of faith and see what joy and happiness it brings as your faith in the Lord increases with each and every success. Live like you have the Lord, because you do.

Praying for all of us to have no fear
Pastor Mike


Murphy's Technology Laws

Murphy's Technology Law #1:
You can never tell which way the train went by looking at the track.

Murphy's Technology Law #2:
Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence.

Murphy's Technology Law #3:
Technology is dominated by those who manage what they do not understand.

Murphy's Technology Law #4:
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.

Murphy's Technology Law #5:
An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less until he/she knows absolutely everything about nothing.

Murphy's Technology Law #6:
Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe, and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it, and he'll have to touch to be sure.

Murphy's Technology Law #7:
All great discoveries are made by mistake.

Murphy's Technology Law #8:
Nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget.

Murphy's Technology Law #9:
All's well that ends . . . period.

Murphy's Technology Law #10:
A meeting is an event at which minutes are kept and hours are lost.

Murphy's Technology Law #11:
The first myth of management is that it exists.

Murphy's Technology Law #12:
A failure will not appear until a unit has passed final inspection.

Murphy's Technology Law #13:
New systems generate new problems.

Murphy's Technology Law #14:
To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer.

Murphy's Technology Law #15:
We don't know one-millionth of one percent about anything.

Murphy's Technology Law #16:
Any given program, when running, is obsolete.

Murphy's Technology Law #17:
A computer makes as many mistakes in two seconds as 20 men working 20 years make.