5 Keys to Master The Fear of Failure
by Olga Hermans
Have you ever been in a situation that just seemed totally impossible to you? I have and I like to believe that you have to, because life happens to all of us. Sometimes, because we make the wrong choices for one reason or another, we can feel helpless and feel that we are not equipped for the situation, but God would NEVER allow something to happen to us and not give us a way out. In 2 Kings 7 God gave a way out to the lepers.
It is a story that speaks of a time when the people of God had been completely surrounded by enemy forces to the point that had completely cut off their supply lines. There was no food. Everybody was starving. Then there was a prophet who said more or less that God was going to turn things around.
That was difficult for everybody to believe because the situation was so devastating. The enemy was either going to starve them to death or they would invade and kill them all. So it looked as though it was a hopeless situation. But the prophet said that things were going to change and that God was going to turn everything around.
Outside the camp were four lepers. These lepers were in a more critical situation than the people inside the camp. They had three things against them:
- There was nothing to eat so they could die of starvation.
- The enemy was coming so they could die by the sword.
- Leprosy could kill them; they had nothing going for them.
It looked like the only thing they could do was just sit there until they died. That is what a lot of Christians do. Rather than conquer their fear; they just sit there and let the devil take over and rob them of what rightfully belongs to them.
Finally one of the lepers says in 2Kings 7:3 … “Why should we sit here waiting to die?” Those lepers would not accept defeat even though they didn’t have anything going for them. At least the people in the camp had all their flesh intact. They were starving and the enemy was about to invade, but they were not nearly as bad off as those lepers.
Let’s see though who got the job done. It was the four helpless, hopeless, impossible-looking lepers, who decided they were not going to let fear control their lives anymore. They got up and started moving towards the enemy’s camp. When they did, God got right in the middle of what they were doing, amplified their footsteps, and made it sound like an entire army coming over the hill and it frightened the enemy to the point that they ran away and left all the food, all the gold, and all the silver.
Four lepers came over the hill and there was not a soul to fight! They marched into the enemy’s camp and took back everything that was stolen. God is looking for some courageous people like these four lepers today. God is looking for some people who will master their fears.
Courage comes every time you look fear right in the face and decide you are going forward. You will never find a person who has great faith and great fear at the same time. One works against the other. When faith comes, fear goes out; but if you are not in the Word of God, then fear comes and faith goes. You are attracting one or the other into your life every day based upon what you listen to and what you see.
If you fail to conquer the fears that you have allowed to come into your life, then you are never going to be free to be yourself and do what God put you on this earth to do.
Here are 5 keys that you can do to master the fear of failure:
1. Perceive yourself the way God sees you.
This means that you need to see yourself that way; meditate on who God says you are. Start talking about yourself the way God sees you. God is looking at you through the blood of Jesus. He sees you as more than a conqueror.
The more you spend time in the Word of God and read with your own eyes how God sees you, the quicker you will become the person that God sees in you.
2. Become passionate and enthusiastic about what God says you can do.
When you are enthusiastic, that means that you can see God in every situation. Others may not be able to see what you see, but you see victory and success coming your way. You can see God at work on your behalf and that creates enthusiasm.
This will deepen your faith. Nothing great is ever achieved without them. You must be enthusiastic about whatever you do.
3. Constantly affirm to yourself who you are, what you are and what you can do in Christ Jesus.
This is very basic, indeed and maybe you have heard this a 10,000 times but you are not going to be free to be you nor will you be the success that you are destined to be until you act on them every day of your life.
You see, affirmations are strong statements regarding what you believe. Affirming who you are and what you can do changes what is on the outside to what you see on the inside.
4. Read the Word of God daily.
Feed your spirit daily on God’s Word and faith-building material. The more you read, the more you listen, and the more you watch faith-building programs, the less you will have to deal with fear because faith will come and fear will go. Be very selective about what you read, what you watch, and what you listen to.
5. Surround yourself with winners.
Associate with people who have conquered fear. Associate with winners. Stay away from people who constantly talk fear and stay away from people who constantly talk failure. Who you associate with has a lot of influence on your outcome.
Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces. Proverbs 13:20 Msg.
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