Are You Afraid of Failure?

“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.” Esther 4:14

Is there something you’ve always dreamed of doing, but you let fear keep you from even starting it? What brings those fears on? Is it fear of failing, fear of vulnerability, fear of not being good enough, fear of disappointing others, or fear of disappointing yourself? The list could go on and on.

I had a dream of starting a ministry website for about 2 years. I wanted to write devotionals and Bible studies and I truly believed that God placed it on my heart. I knew that He provided me with what I needed to accomplish this dream, but I doubted myself. I was afraid that I was not knowledgeable enough in technology, I told myself I did not have the time to devote to it, and I was afraid I did not have the wisdom to write devotionals and Bible studies. I was simply afraid of failure.

Failure is something that perfectionists cannot even accidentally place in front of themselves. Perfectionists want to play everything safe so that there is no room for failure. Well, there is no room for that kind of thinking in the kingdom of God. Sometimes we have to lay it all out there and see what God does with it. God makes us vulnerable so that others can see Him glorified through our failures. That may sound like a scary thing but, in all honesty, there is nothing better than allowing God to be glorified through you.

Esther is a great example of how we may doubt what we can do, but we should do it anyway because we have faith in what God can do.

Esther was put in a position she was not expecting. Esther was a Jewish girl living with her cousin, Mordecai. She was not raised in a royal court and yet she was chosen to be queen of the Persian Empire. This gave her privileges and opportunities that would not otherwise exist for her.

Four years have passed since Esther was made queen. The Jewish people’s customs were different than everyone else. Haman, the king’s second-hand man, used their differences against them and told the king they had not obeyed the laws. He portrayed them as useless, turbulent people who were inclined to be disloyal. Haman suggests to the king that all these people be destroyed. He was wanting to see God’s people be destroyed. When Mordecai and the other Jews discovered this, they were understandably upset.

Esther was not truly reigning as queen yet. She was still in a weak position in terms of authority when it came to addressing the king and was unable to approach him any time she chose. But, Queen Esther and Mordecai knew they had to think of a plan to remove the death sentence from their people.

In Esther 4:5-8, Mordecai urges Esther to go to the king and beg for mercy and plead with him for her people. Esther says this to Mordecai in verse 11, “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that he be put to death. The only exception to this is for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.” Esther is telling Mordecai she is afraid. She is afraid of rejection and death. She is afraid of failure.

Mordecai tells Esther in verses 13-14, “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to a royal position for such a time as this?” Mordecai is reminding Esther that if she does not do this act of begging the king then they will all die. She has to be brave because God has put her in this position for this very reason, to save His people from death.

Esther then decides to have faith in God. Through her faith, she saves the Jews from death.

If God is asking us to do something, we need to have faith that He will provide a way. Fear of failure should not be the reason we don’t even attempt to accomplish what God is asking of us. Even if we do fail, we showed tremendous faith in God and He will not forget that. That is all that matters at the end of the day. It’s not about glorifying ourselves, it’s about glorifying God and being obedient to Him.

What are you scared of doing right now?

What do you need to ask God to help you with so that you can attempt to accomplish your dreams and His desires?

Do you truly believe God will provide a way for you? Belief needs to come first. What do you need to set aside so that you do believe?