The Fear of Failure
Scripture: Matthew 25:25-27
Purpose: to share how we can overcome the fear of failure in our lives.
INTRODUCTION: Have you ever felt like Charlie Brown? I sure have. In fact, I’m standing here today as 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.
- Dentists say you should brush your teeth after every meal and floss every day. Don’t always do that.
- I’ve been told I should never allow the gas tank in my car to get below half full. You don’t want to know about the times I’ve had to walk down a road to find the nearest gas station.
- You should make your bed every morning, 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 – I think I’ve averaged about 4-6 ½.
- 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 out 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.
Thomas Edison said it like this,
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize
how close they were to success when they gave up.”
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The fear of failure is not really new. It’s been around for ages. In fact, Jesus told a story about it in Matthew 25 about a master who has three servants. He divided his income among them and said, “I’m going on a trip. I want you to take my money and invest it.”
The first guy took the money and doubled it. The master was satisfied. The second guy took the money and doubled it. Again, the master was satisfied. But then we come to the third guy. We pick up his story in verse 25,
(Matthew 25 25-27) “’So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent
in the ground. See here is what belongs to you.’ His master replied, you wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well, then, you should
have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.’”
Jesus wants us to learn from this story that when we refuse to take risks, we’re refusing to live by faith. How do we conquer the fear of failure anyway? With drugs? With hypnosis?
Today, we close the sermon series of “Things We Don’t Like to Talk About” And no one likes to talk about his or her Failures. So how then can we overcome the fear of failure so that it does not paralyze us to move forward? There are four things we need to understand if we are going to take risks that will honor God.
The first way to conquer the fear of failure is...
I. DISCOVER THAT EVERYONE FAILS – You are not alone!!
A. 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)
1. A study has been done and they’ve discovered that the failure rate of human beings is 100%.
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.
- Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, survived the flood but ended up getting drunk.
- Moses stuttered and was a murderer.
- 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.”
Folks, the list could go on and on. Everyone fails!
3. I love (Romans 3:23): “for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.”
- Everybody fails. You’re a superstar in baseball if you only make an out 700 times out of a thousand at bat. If you’re a professional basketball player, you’re at the top of the game if you miss 50% of your shots.
4. Have you lost your job this week? Have you been fired? Join the club. How many other people have been fired in life? Failure is universal. That’s why we all need God’s grace.
- “Failure is when you feel like your best just isn’t good enough.”
- Discover that everybody fails. But there’s a second way to overcome the fear of failure. We also have to...
II. DETERMINE THAT FAILURE IS NOT FINAL.
A. Look at (Proverbs 24:16), “For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.”
1. 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.
- Napoleon graduated 42nd in a class of 43 students. Brilliant! Then he went out and conquered Europe. Failure doesn’t have to be final.
- 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.
2. We need to learn to make the most of our mistakes. I’m told in the back woods of Arkansas, there was a man who worked both as a veterinarian and as a taxidermist. The sign on his office door read:
“Remember, either way, you get your dog back!”
- You see, we can learn from our mistakes. Failure doesn’t have to be final.
B. In (Galatians 6:9) We Read “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at a proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
1. 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.
- But that is not to imply we have to enjoy it or that it feels good. Failure hurts but faith can move us forward.
- The late novelist, John Gardner said:
“One of the reasons why mature people stop growing and learning is that they become less and less willing to risk failure.”
- Failure is not the worst thing that can happen and it doesn’t have to be final. There’s another way to overcome the fear of failure, and that’s to...
III. DISCERN THE BENEFITS OF FAILURE
A. Paul said of the Romans in Romans 8: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him…according to His purpose.”
1. “Does that include failure?” It sure does. God can work even in our failures!
2. One of the most well-known characters of the New Testament is a man named Simon. He knew all about failure. He failed to walk on water. He failed when he refused to let Jesus wash his feet. He failed when he took out his sword and cut off the ear of a servant of the High Priest. He failed to stand up for Jesus during the trial before Herod. He failed to stand with Jesus at the foot of the cross. When you read through the Gospels, it seems like Simon messes up almost everything he tries.
- But Jesus gave Simon the name, “Peter” which means “rock.” He offered forgiveness for all of Simon’s failings, and Peter preached one of the greatest sermons in the history of Christianity where 3,000 people became followers of Jesus Christ.
B. Just think of all the benefits to failure. For one thing,
1. It educates us.
- Thomas Edison said he had 10,000 failures before he learned how to work the light bulb. He said he didn’t call it a failure; he called it an education.
- “I know 10,000 things that don’t work.” There are some things in life that are only learned through failure.
- Failure isn’t special – everybody does it. But to learn from failure is special. And smart people learn from their failures.
2. Failure also develops our skills.
- How did you learn to ride a bike? You fell down and got back up. You learned to roller skate the same way. Failure is a stepping-stone to success if you try new approaches.
- I hope you’ll encourage the Church staff to not be afraid to fail. It means we’re trying new stuff. If we’re not making mistakes once in a while, we’re not trying anything new.
- How many stories have you heard about people who failed in one area and that motivated them to try something else? Maybe you know the name of Ray Kroc who failed in real estate and decided to start a thing called “McDonalds.” Or how about Colonel Sanders who failed at everything in his life until he was about 70, and then he started doing what he always wanted to do in the first place which was cooking chicken.
- When you fail at something, maybe God is developing a skill that you didn’t know you had. You see, God uses failure to direct us into a new area. Some of us have tried a ministry and we feel as if we’ve failed and so we just kind of washed our hands and walked away. That’s not what God wants for us. He wants us to develop our skills.
But you know, there’s another benefit to failure.
3. It also makes us less judgmental.
- Most of the, people I know who fail tend to be more sympathetic. Without failure, it’s easy to kind of look down our noses at those who fail.
- Jesus just said: “The one who has been forgiven little loves little.”
- So, if we want to conquer the fear of failure, we have to discover that everyone fails, determine that failure is not final, discern the benefits of failure. And then we must…
IV. DECIDE TO STOP COMPARING OURSELVES TO OTHERS.
1. Frankly, this is the root of a lot of failure. We live in a competitive society. We’ve taken competition overdose. Everybody competes with somebody else. Parents even compete with each other through their kids’ sports competition, or music competition, or the clothes their kids wear. And the competition goes on and on. Sometimes, people even compete through the gifts they buy.
2. You see, success is just doing your best. Failure is not making the effort. When you compare yourself with others, you set yourself up for the fear of failure.
3. It’s even easy for me to do this as a pastor. I can look at what God is doing through Billy Graham, and think, “I’ll never measure up. I’ll never impact that many people. I’ll never have communication skills like that. I’ll never be that creative.”
- Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else. (Galatians 6:4)
4. You see, if you want to conquer the fear of failure, you have to discover that everyone fails, determine that failure is not final, discern the benefits of failure, decide to stop comparing yourselves to others, and... Depend on the power of Jesus.
CONCLUSION:
“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?
You might have some spiritual failure. 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. 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.
You might be afraid of committing to this church. Maybe you’re afraid to commit to membership, or a life group, or a ministry. You know, you can miss God’s blessings in your life if you allow fear control you. You can’t play it safe and please God.
So, I’m going to ask you to step out of your comfort zone today and trust God. Would you bow your heads with me? And as the worship band plays, I want to give you this challenge today: “Will you take some God-honoring risks this week?”
Would you say “Yes,” to Him? Some of you have been thinking about this for a long time. Take the risk.
Will you ask Him to replace the fear of failure in your life with faith
in Him.
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.”
