A sycamore leaf falls into my hand—brittle and tawny, the color of nutmeg. The creek unfolds in shadowy shades of black, and I breathe deeply as my cares fall away. I’ve been feeling like a failure in a few important areas of my life lately. The forest offers space to examine how I might overcome the fear of failure with God.
I imagine you know a thing or two about feeling like a failure in the places that matter.
Feeling Like a Failure
Maybe you feel like you’ll never find freedom in an area of your life where you feel stuck.
Maybe you feel like the dream you’ve been chasing will never come to fruition.
If you’re a mom, you might just feel like you’re messing up your kids. (Read more on this struggle here.)
What do you do when these fears arise within you?
Do you pull yourself up by your bootstraps and try harder? Shrivel up and quit trying?
Regardless of your response, there is a very real battle going on when it comes to our fears about failing in life.
The enemy would love to render us ineffective for God’s kingdom by paralyzing us with fear. He wants us to try so hard that we burn out and give up. He’d like us to try to prove our worth to the world around us as we attempt to make up for where we think we’re lacking. Meanwhile, God has a better invitation . . .
How to Overcome the Fear of Failure With God
By God’s grace, Scripture offers powerful insight on what to do when you start feeling like a failure in your life. Let’s look at three steps to take to overcome our fear of failure with God’s help:
1. Ask God to show you the root beneath your fear of failure.
You might think you’re afraid of disappointing your boss or messing up your kids, but there’s probably a deeper root beneath your fear. Ask God to show you if there’s a hidden root. Spend some time alone with the Lord, and ask him to help you see why you fear failure.
If you mess this up, what do you secretly believe it says about you?
Do you believe your failure will somehow define you?
Do you believe God can’t redirect you if you mess up your life?
Are you afraid of rejection?
Ask yourself these questions to see what is at the root of your fear.
2. Relinquish your fear of failure to God.
Relinquishment is the process of giving God what belongs to him.
You relinquish a fear by imagining the fear has become reality. This step is difficult for most of us. It’s not easy to imagine your worst-case scenario has become reality. However, there is freedom on the other side of this step.
Imagine you do fail. Imagine everything falls apart. Now, imagine God on his throne. Consider how you would survive your failure. You might be disappointed, embarrassed, or even crushed. But you would go on. God would carry you, and you would find a way to press forward.
Ask God to help you trust him. Ask him to help you lean into him and believe that even if you fail, he will continue to direct your life. You might not trust him yet, but ask him to help you build your trust and faith. He will answer this prayer.
3. Overcome the fear of failure with God by planting your feet on what is true.
My human flesh speaks these words about failure:
“You’re such a disappointment.”
“This failure defines who you are as a person.”
“God cannot fix this. You’ve gone too far.”
“You’re not good enough. Why did you even try?”
Scripture offers vastly different insights. Here’s what Scripture says about who you are and what God plans for your life:
“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me” (Psalm 138:8 ESV).
“Nothing will thwart God’s plan for my life” (see Isaiah 14:27).
“I am Christ’s beloved” (see Song of Solomon 2:16).
“He who began a good work in me will carry it to completion” (see Philippians 1:6).
“Nothing can ever take God’s love away from me” (see Romans 8:38-39).
I sit by the water and watch the leaves float on its silky skin. I walk through the steps above. And when I return home, my heart feels lighter. I still need to face the difficult parts of my life—the parts that have me feeling like a failure. But I know that even if I fail, God will accomplish his purpose.
He is inviting me to cling to him instead of clinging to control again. I decide to accept the invitation.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Stacey Pardoe
Featured Image by Steve Johnson on Unsplas
