Have you felt the desire to quit, throw in the towel, and give up on your dream? The fear of failure is a powerful emotion that keeps us from pressing forward into tomorrow. What’s worse, we don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.
In today’s episode, I want to take you on a journey of my own fear of failure. I hope my story will help you take that fear and turn it into your personal superpower. Faith and fear are two sides of the same coin, and how we leverage them both can determine success or failure.
A few months ago, I sat in my living room chair and sulked. I felt as if everything I’ve done on this blog, podcast, and website have been an utter failure. Yes, I was self-loathing. It was pathetic, but I needed that time to ponder my own dark thoughts.
When we’re afraid to keep counting the cost, we’ll simply fade with time and give up. Even typing this post is difficult, because of how I fear you, the reader, will perceive me.
But how do we take our fear and turn it into joy? James the brother of our Lord says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4 (NKJV)
When our faith is put to the test, we either shrink back and give up, or we take the bull by the horns and press through into victory. While sitting on that couch, I had a choice to make, either stop doing what I was doing or realize I was impacting people’s lives and helping them find their voice so they can succeed in life.
I’ve known too many people who suffer from the unknown in their own future. There’s suffering from our own thoughts, and then there’s patience. There’s an old saying, “Patience is a virtue.” When our faith is put to the test we should ask, “Are we going to overcome – or are we going to break down and give up on our life?”
For too many people, when the going gets tough they give up and give into their circumstances, instead of relying on the Word of God to give them the faith and patience to persevere.
1. Fear holds you back from living.
Wallowing in self-pity is a fool’s errand. You’ll never amount to much by living in the past and succumbing to your past regrets or current fears. When we believe our fears, they’ll eventually mold, shape, and control us.
Success isn’t determined by how you currently feel, success is determined by the fruit of your labor. Work hard, put the time in, and reap the benefits. The question, what kind of seeds are you sowing into your work?
2. Faith Moves us Forward.
Remember the passage above, count it all joy… when you encounter various trials…? This one verse is a mainstay in our family. Life has thrown our family more curveballs than I can count. Life can be a rough ride. We like our peaches and roses, but when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Too many people live with one leg in the comfort zones of life and the other dipping into some harder work. But if you want your writing to make a difference, if you want your blog to touch lives, and you want your message heard from the rooftops you have to put faith to work.
Fear is the opposite of faith. That means the reverse is also as powerful. If you’ve seen the TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., you’ve seen Skye move mountains with her Earthquake powers. The same is true for us, when we begin to place our mindset on things above–not focusing on our current predicament–we can change our emotional state.
Faith gives clarity to see the future and keep your feet moving forward.
3. Vision for tomorrow gives you clarity.
In that moment you find your faith, you begin to find your vision for life. It has taken years of hard work to make this website what it is. It takes money every month to keep producing this podcast and blog. But one thing is certain, I know my future and I’m pressing forward toward it with joy.
James tells us to count it all joy. You see, it doesn’t matter what life throws at you, pick up and get moving. Vision gives you the foresight to look beyond and see change. It allows you to count every blessing God’s given you.
We don’t know what the future holds, but we know who holds our future. When we place our faith in Christ, allowing him to give us the faith and direction we need, he’ll guide us every step of the way.
That day I sat on my living room chair, I knew I was wrong. I knew I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself. My wife said to me, “Look at all the good you’ve done. See those emails, see the money you’ve made. That’s a sign people are paying attention.”
Sometimes, we just need a little encouragement to keep pressing on and write that next blog post or book.
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Jason (J.B.) Sisam. Best-selling Amazon author of the Christian Early Reader book, 
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