A thought by Ed Young, from his book, The Fear Virus: Vaccinating Yourself Against Life's Greatest Phobias (p.59). Creality Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
It really can, can’t it?
Ed says, “It can keep us from what God has for us, it can make us stagnant in our faith, our relationships, our careers, and our goals. When the fear virus attacks our hearts and starts whispering about failure, we have to fight back. We must remember that God is with us, guiding us, helping us finish the work that He started in us. God is a God of victory. He never lets it end with failure if we turn to Him; He always redeems, always loves, always lifts us up. Undoubtedly, you have some dreams that have not been realized, and we have to ask ourselves: What is the blockage? What is holding you back?”
He continues, “I believe the answer is fear. Specifically, we have paralyzed our own hopes and dreams by our own fear of failure. We are afraid of trying something and messing up, of making an attempt just to fall flat on our faces. We are afraid of taking risks and the hard work it would take to achieve success. We have become so comfortable in our mediocre existence, not trying, not taking risks, and not stepping out. We opt for the security of the familiar rather than the risk of the unfamiliar. We might be thinking, ‘What if I fulfill those dreams and they are not what I expected them to be? What happens after I achieve that goal? What do I do next?’”
He goes on, “The word failure sounds so defeating, so depressing. But we have several choices in the face of failure—and, I assure you, everyone fails at some time or another in life. Here are our choices when we fail: we can deny it, dwell on it, blame others for it, or we can allow it to mature and develop us. Only the last option gives us the strength and the courage to go on and to move toward achieving our goals.”
He later says, “If you’re yielded to His agenda, His timing, and His strength, failure is not an option because God is not a failure. When fear leaves us paralyzed, we need to remember that we are not seeing the whole picture. There is more to come. As long as we keep moving forward, pursuing a relationship with God, developing our character, and stewarding the talents and gifts He’s given us, then we are successful—and no one can ever take that away.
And that is so true, isn’t it?
Comments
Post a Comment