As we get close to the New Year, people are starting to think about New Year’s resolutions, goal setting and trying new things but with that also comes with fear. Fear of failure, fear of doubt, fear of judgment, and more. The summer of 2022 I got the opportunity to preach on the topic of fear and carrying it as baggage. Below I have adapted my sermon into this blog. I hope you find it encouraging.
Do you remember the show Fear Factor? From being trapped with creepy crawlies, buried alive or trapped underwater. Everyone has a fear… You may have a fear of death, heights, snakes, failure, clowns, public speaking, rejection, snakes dressed as clowns, fear of the future or fomo which stands for fear of missing out or a host of other things.
In the 1800s there was a professional thief whose very name struck fear as he terrorized the Wells Fargo stage line. From San Francisco to New York, his name became synonymous with the danger of the frontier. He robbed 29 different stagecoach crews. Amazingly, he did it all without firing a shot. Instead, Black Bart used fear to paralyze his victims.
Fear is a powerful emotion -- it can grip us with an immobilizing terror. Batman the Dark Knight also uses Fear to stop criminals. Fear can keep us from succeeding in life. Fear wants to steal your joy and take your courage.
Fear grows when we feel our inabilities or are anxious about the unknown. Fear can also grow by our thoughts and who we are associated with.
Let’s look at the fear of the unknown with the study of a crab in a bucket. If you put a crab in a bucket it will climb up and out no problem. But if you put three crabs in a bucket they will die. As soon as one crab starts climbing, another crab pulls it down. No don’t go out there, you don’t know what's on the other side of the bucket. That’s scary, get back down here.Perhaps you have someone in your life adding to your fear of the unknown, you don’t know what is on the other side of that door or opportunity. They are pulling you down. The crabs continue to fight and pull each other back down and eventually die in the bucket.
But God promised to protect us and walk with us through our fears and danger. Honestly the fear of failure was one of my biggest fears when I originally wrote this message. The Lord has really been working on my heart before writing this message and as well as after. He has freed me from much and I am still a work in progress. I want to share some things I have learned from giving my failures to the Lord. Of course out of all the baggage topics I got fear that summer. Through preparing for this message God had brought things to the light and has been working on me. So I want to share about fear in general and the fear of failure. Let’s just get this out of the way- I’m an absolute failure. I came across a list of things this week that I’m supposed to do where I fail regularly. Could I share just a few of those with you?
- Experts say you should drink eight glasses of water a day – I don’t always do that.
Dust once a week, and vacuum a couple times a week. I’ve struck out on that.
- Doctors say the average adult should get no less than 8 hours of sleep per night- nope
- You’re always supposed to do the speed limit and not get road rage – I’m not even going to go there!
All of us fail occasionally – don’t we? It is not our desire or intent but, “hey it happens.” Nobody wants to be known as a failure in life, but the truth is: failure is universal! Everybody experiences failure, and everybody experiences the fear of failure. In fact, just the fear of failure paralyzes millions of people. Including myself. My fear of failure has caused me to miss out on a few things. If I can’t do something right the first time or at least do it well, that is considered failure so what is the point? I lowkey stress out when playing games. I’m good with second and third but if fourth is last and I get last is that is failing or I’m good with 6th if the last place is 8th. I don’t have to be first but I don’t want to be last. Last is failing.
Perhaps you can relate to this, when I was younger I didn’t want to fail people. Which turned me into a yes man and people pleaser. I wanted people to like me and tried to please everyone, especially at work. I didn’t want to fail my boss or coworkers. In highschool I worked at Chuck E Cheese’s for 5 years and loved it. One Friday I worked a double. I worked my shift and covered for someone.On this particular Friday nobody wanted to suit up as the mouse. (Sidenote Chuck E Cheese is a mouse not a rat) So I took almost every rotation and was Chucke 18 times in one day. I have been freed from people pleasing. Not sure if that core memory has anything to do with that but, now I don’t mind saying no, having a little conflict and I know I can’t please everyone but that took some time and growth.
How about this one? When originally writing this at least once a week if not more than once at some point I think to myself, I’m failing as husband, as a son, as a brother, as friend, and a leader, as a follower of Jesus. I could do better and then I mentally and emotionally beat myself up for failing. Did you catch that? I think to myself. One of my mentors has told me recently that “fear starts as a thought in our mind.” How true is that?
Bright side when I have those feelings, I send a text to a family member or friend to try and do better. When we first got married I had the fear of failing Morgan so bad or making her so upset that she would change her mind about being married to me. So I had a fear of abandonment that grew. I have never been abandoned but I feared it because I didn’t feel good enough or think I was worthy of Morgan. That all started with a thought. Are you struggling with a fear of abandonment this? This led to a really great talk where we were honest but that was hard. I didn’t want to be that vulnerable and come off weak. If you are married or plan on being married, can I tell you, if you are open and honest with your wife she will see strength in that. Wives if your husband is vulnerable don’t tease him about it or he will shut down. I challenge you after reading this before you go to bed, talk to your spouse or fiance about your fears.
You can ask Morgan. I am a planner and operate pretty logically. I have to plan and plan because if I mess up that is a failure and I take failure deep and super personal. I take preaching pretty seriously. I go over my notes tirelessly to make sure I don’t mess up. If I mess up, what are people going to think? What is God going to think? I’ve been given the chance to preach and if I mess up then I have failed but I keep trying and keep preaching. I was fearful of starting to podcast and blog as well. Do I have good thoughts to share? Who would listen to me? I don’t have much to say. But I have found that it is a fun hobby and I do it mostly for me as an outlet and hope my writings and talks encourage at least 1 person. I will say I am more comfortable than I was years ago when I got my first chance to preach in “big church”. And God has opened some incredible doors for me to speak and share. But even with those opportunities I over plan and stress out in order to not fail the person who has invited me to speak. At times, I feel that I fail God the most, am I truly honoring the call God has on my life? Am I leading my home spiritually well? And I could go on and on but God has really been dealing with me on different levels of fear. I am not a failure because God doesn’t create failures. have been encouraged with these words from the Bible.
And I believe God wants to encourage you with these words as well, “Fear Not” These words are used 88 times in the Bible -- and is mostly spoken by God to his people. You see I have been reminded recently that failure is not bad news, it is growth news. Fear not for I am with you, Do not be discouraged, do not be afraid are all phrases that God speaks to His people.
Josh Wilson a Christian musician has a song “The Things I’m Afraid Of.” In that song he says this, “But You′re with me everywhere I go. So I won't give up yet. My fears would surely kill me
If I didn’t know the truth. The things that I'm afraid of are afraid of You.”
Do you know Junior the Asparagus from VeggieTales? He sings a song God is bigger Than the Boogie Man. He sings, “Oh, God is bigger than the boogieman and he’s watchin’ out for you and me…”
The phrase Fear Not occurs in our text today. We are in 2 Kings 6:8-23
Before we begin our story let me introduce to you the list of people - Elisha (prophet of God); Joram the king of Israel; Ben Hadad the king of Syria; Elisha’s servant. Background. Vs.8-14. Ben Hadad was making war against Israel and he was setting up camps in various places, each time he set up a camp God would reveal it to Elisha, and then Elisha would reveal it to Joram.
This happened several times, so Ben Hadad caught on that someone was telling Joram about his plans. So he accused his servants and one of his servants said that it was Elisha that was telling Joram. So they sought out to find and capture Elisha. Once they found him they surrounded him with horses and chariots and soldiers.
Vs.15 Early in the morning Elisha’s servant woke up and went outside and saw that they were surrounded. “OH, MY LORD WHAT SHALL WE DO?” Elisha, “Fear not, for we are more than they.” How could he say that, there were only two of them and they were completely surrounded by the Syrian army?
It wasn’t that Elisha was an optimist, it was that he was able to see the armies of the living God and his servant wasn’t. So Elisha prayed, “OH LORD, OPEN HIS EYES SO HE MAY SEE”. When God opened his eyes he was able to see that the mountains were full of horses and chariots of fire.
Have you ever felt like that servant? You’re trapped by your fears and there seems to be no way out. Whatever your fear might be, you feel as those you are alone and your fear is crippling. You need to know you are not alone. It’s time to pray and ask God to open your eyes.
Let me tell you what happens when God opens your eyes…
YOU WILL SEE THE TRUE NATURE OF THE BATTLE
Elisha’s servant thought the battle was 2 against the whole Syrian army. But God and His spiritual army stood by Elisha. Like this servant so many people are blind to the true nature of the battle, because they have taken their eyes off of God and have focused on the world or on their problems so they feel out-numbered. When we look to God, He opens our eyes and we can see, with God we are more than they. Maybe you are like me and you have a fear of failure. God is with us when we fail.
DISCOVER THAT EVERYONE FAILS – You are not alone!!
The starting point to overcoming the fear of failure is to realize, that it is a universal experience. Everybody fails. James is very specific about this. He says,
“We all stumble in many ways.” (James 3:2) Nobody is perfect. We all blow it. You can’t get away from that principle in Scripture. Great men of the Bible failed.
- Abraham failed to believe that God would give him a son so he slept with someone who wasn’t his wife, but God didn’t give up on him.
- Jacob was a thief, and God allowed him to bless the world through his children.
- David committed adultery with Bethsheba, and then murdered her husband to hide his failing. Yet, David became known as a man “after God’s heart.”
Here is another thing that happens when we ask God to take our fears and open our eyes to Him.
II. WE WILL EXPERIENCE HIS PRESENCE
When we open our eyes, we see the Lord... And we are reminded that He is always there, just as He promised in Matthew 28, “I am with you always even unto the end of the world.” There is something about being in the presence of someone who is stronger than we are, that soothes our fears. (A child in a dark room – in the shadows there are all shorts of scary things, but when mom or dad is there the fear goes away).
5-year-old Danny was in the kitchen as his mother made supper. She asked him to go into the pantry and get her a can of soup, but he didn’t want to go alone. “It’s dark in there and I’m scared.” She said, “Its OK-Jesus will be in there with you.” Danny walked hesitantly to the door and said, “Jesus, if you’re in there, would you hand me the soup.”
“FEAR NOT” appears 88 times in the bible -- mostly spoken by God, and accompanied by the promise of His presence: In Genesis 26, When Isaac was afraid, the Lord said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you.” Jeremiah 42:11 When Jeremiah was afraid God said, “Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands.”
Psalm 139:7-10… When God is with us there is no reason to fear 1 John 4:4, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” Remember when God is with us we are always the majority, and we are always the victor. Which is another thing God has been showing me,
I NEED TO DETERMINE THAT FAILURE IS NOT FINAL.
Look at (Proverbs 24:16), “For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.”
Even good guys stumble! History is filled with the biographies of failures who got up and kept going. - George Washington lost 2/3 of all the battles he fought during the American Revolution, but eventually won the war and became the first President of the United States.
- Billy Graham said that when he was asked to preach his first sermon. He had 4 sermons prepared and he was so nervous he preached all four of them in under 10 minutes. Can you imagine if Billy Graham had said, “You know, I’m just not cut out for this. I don’t want to endure that kind of embarrassment again”? The world would have missed one of the greatest preachers of all time. Failure doesn’t have to be final.
You see, we can learn from our mistakes. John Maxwell puts it like this, “A good mistake means we learn and make adjustments. A bad mistake means we just make excuses.”
Isn’t it true that many of us give up too quickly? But one of the best ways to learn is through failure. You become a success through failure.
In Deuteronomy 7 Moses is talking to the people of Israel as they are about to enter the promised land and he says, “There are seven nations larger and stronger than you” That’s not a very encouraging message. If you want to get your people excited don’t tell them they are smaller and weaker and they are far outnumbered. But remember with God we are the majority.
Moses reminds them about their past and how God always overcame the enemy. Then he says, remember how God “redeemed our fathers from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” The he reminds them about how God brought them through the wilderness – to the promise land.
We need to remember what God has done in our past, how Christ redeemed us from the bondage of sin and from the hand of the prince of this world. He has brought us to where we are today and some day we will cross our Jordan.
I’m not saying we should live in the past, but we can learn from the past. You see, the same God that cared for Israel is the same God that died for us, and rose again and He’s coming again. He has not changed nor will He ever change and we can trust Him.God went through the wilderness with them, He will with us – “Fear Not” He overcame their enemies and He will overcome ours – “Fear Not” He delivered them from captivity and He will deliver us – “Fear Not” Romans 8:31, “If God is for us then who can be against us?”
Where are you afraid of failing?
Are you afraid of a new job interview? Are you afraid you are not going to keep your job because of the economy? Are you afraid of failing in your marriage? Are you afraid of being single? Afraid of being a bad parent? What fear of failure is gripping your heart?
Overpower fear in your mind with what you are letting in your mind i.e. the input (Bible reading, worship music, the right kind of podcast, the right kind of books, prayer)
Remember my friend Junior and his song, he ends it with “So when I'm lying in my bed And the furniture starts creeping I'll just laugh and say "Hey, cut that out!" and get back to my sleeping Cause I know that God's the biggest And He's watching all the while So when I get scared I'll think of Him And close my eyes and smile. Then goes back into God is bigger.
Are you wondering.... what happen with Elisha and Black Bart. When the Syrian army came toward Elisha, the Lord stuck them with blindness; he closed their eyes…
Read from Bible 2 Kings 6:19-23
And Black Bart -- It turns out he wasn’t anything to be afraid of either. When the hood came off, they didn’t find a blood thirsty bandit from death Valley; they found a mild mannered druggist from Decatur Illinois. Charles E, Boles -- he never fired a shot, because he was afraid to carry a loaded gun....
Do you have any false fears in life? Let God open your eyes so you can see the true nature of the battle!
God wants to do so much in your life, but He won’t if you don’t allow Him. You might be afraid of committing your life to Jesus Christ. Maybe you’re even thinking, “If I commit my life to Christ, I’ll probably blow it and fail.” Guess what? You will. I’m here today and have failed more times than I can remember. But your eternity doesn’t depend on you. It depends on what Jesus has done for you.
The only failure that is complete is when we fail to respond to God’s love. If you’ve never responded to the love of Jesus Christ, I invite you to do that today by placing your faith in Him as your Savior from sin.
Maybe you’re already a follower of Jesus. Perhaps God is saying to you, “I want you to start doing something you know you ought to be doing, but you’ve been afraid to do.” Would you take the step of faith today and say,
“God, I’m going to trust You in this area – with my time and my relationships and my finances – whatever You have for me.” Will you ask Him to replace the fear of failure in your life with faith in Him.
My challenge to you is this
Share your fears with God, like really share them.
Are you married? Next share your fears with your spouse
Single? Find someone to hold you accountable and share your fears with them.
Listen to Josh Wilson’s song “The things I’m afraid of”
Kids and families, Listen to God is bigger than the boogieman from VeggieTales.
When you can give a name to your fear or vocalize it, it stops holding power over you and being so scary.
Your fear next to God is not that big because we serve a big God. He truly is bigger than the boogie man.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog entry. You are not alone. Fear Not!
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