IMO: You Should Just Give Up - Monday
2 Timothy 1:7
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. (NIV)
In his excellent book Freedom From Fear, Neil Anderson suggests four things that terrify some folks: fear of death, fear of the future, fear of man, and fear of failure. Any of those ring true with you? Yeah, me too; in fact, all of them. This week, we’ll be talking about the last one—fear of failure. I hope you’ll join us daily.
With regard to fearing failure, here’s the most important thing I’ve learned: Feel the fear, and do it anyway. Rather than ask, “What if I fail?” ask instead, “What if I succeed?” Know this, friend: God didn’t design you to spend your life lying on the cold, damp, concrete floor of fear.
Did you ever hear the fable about the little boy who saw a witch, who then turned herself into a cat and began to chase the little boy? After a while, the little boy looked back, and the cat had grown to the size of a horse… and then he looked again, and the cat had grown to the size of a house! So he continued to run as fast as his little legs would carry him.
Finally, exhausted, he stopped and turned to face his attacker. At that moment, the cat stopped too. And suddenly, the cat turned and started running, and the little boy began to chase the cat! The longer he chased the oversized feline, the smaller it became, until it finally scampered into a hole in a wall and disappeared. Yeah, I know—kind of a silly story. But don't miss the message. Here it is: “Fear came knocking at my door one day. Faith answered… and no one was there.”
Here’s a question for you: What would you do if you were no longer afraid to fail? One likely answer is that you’d kick failure to the curb and try again. You see, failure is simply evidence that someone somewhere tried. Failure has nothing to do with our value or worth, nor does it make anyone permanently unworthy… ever.
Monday’s Reflection
Reread today’s text five times, out loud, and then take it to heart. My friend, every new journey starts from where you are, not where you were. Don’t ever forget that.
