S.O.A.P. for Today: Five Steps to Overcome the Fear of Failure

Good morning! This is the day that the Lord has made, I will REJOICE and be glad in it. What a beautiful day that we have been given today. I pray that you will enjoy every second of it, and bask in the blessings of God. We take so many of His blessings for granted. Let's slow down today, and savor every moment.

I look forward to our services this weekend. In our Sunday morning service I plan to preach a message entitled, "Coins, Sheep, and Prodigals." During this message I will show interviews of some people in our church as they share how they became a part of our church family. You don't want to miss it. Then Sunday night, I am preaching the message, "When Fact encounters FAITH" Are you facing a tough situation in your life, then you need to be here Sunday night. I will be showing a couple of videos. One of our Kids Fest, and another will be a testimony of how God put a family back together. I believe that it will be a great weekend.

I want to share with you this morning about how to overcome the fear of failure.

Failure … It is something we fear, yet we have all experienced. It is part of the human experience to take risks at times and risk implies failure.

In Matthew 25:21, the master responds, "Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master."

The master says, "Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master" (Matthew 25:23 NASB ).

"I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground; see, you have what is yours" (Matthew 25:25).

Five things to remember if you want to overcome this fear:

1.     Remember that everybody fails.

Everybody fails. It is a natural part of life.
"We all stumble in many ways" (James 3:2 NASB ).

"We all stumble in many ways ." How many? Many ways. We what? "All stumble."

"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). The fact is, all have sinned and fall short. Everybody fails.

2.     Realize that failure is not final.

Often, the fear of failure is worse than the experience itself.

Proverbs 24:16 says, "A righteous man falls seven times, and rises again."

"God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

Failure is not final.
Galatians 6:9 says this, "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary."

3.     Recognize that there are benefits to failure.

Psalm 119:67: "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word."

Failure educates us.

Thomas Edison had 10,000 failures before he perfected the incandescent lightbulb. At 10,000 failures someone asked him, "Aren't you discouraged? Don't you feel like a failure?" Do you know what Thomas Edison's reply was? "I don't call it a failure," he said. "I call it an education. Now I know 10,000 things that do not work very well."

B. Failure helps us to discover our true talents.

I think of Raymond Kroc. Raymond Kroc failed at real estate. So he finally tried something different. He bought a hamburger stand from two brothers, whose last names happened to be McDonald. Kroc later spun that hamburger stand into a world-renowned fast-food chain.

Failure makes us less judgmental.

When you fail, you become a lot more sympathetic, sensitive, and kind to others. When you fail, your arrogance is restrained.

4. Redefine failure.

Failure is not that you didn't arrive at your goal; failure is not even making the effort.

"I realized that all we can do is be happy and do the best we can while we are still alive" (Ecclesiastes 3:12).

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7 NASB ).

Proverbs 14:4
"Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, but much increase comes by the strength of the ox."

5. Replace fear with faith in Christ.

Philippians 4:13
"I have the strength to face all conditions by the power…"

"When I am afraid, I will put my trust in God" (Psalm 56:3).