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No More Fear
By Dr. Greg Faulls

In a staff meeting years ago someone
asked, “What would you do with your life if
you had no fear?” That question raddled
me. It caused me to ponder how often my
fear has limited my potential.

How would you answer that question?
What dreams do you have for your life?
Are they God inspired dreams? And if so,
what holds you back from beginning to
pursue them? Is it a fear of failure?

For many, the fear of failure prevents them from taking risks and pursuing great things for
God. But why do we fear failure? Really, why? Is failure that big of a deal? Truth is it is
not.

Think about it! Did the bat strike the ball the first time you took a swing? Did you balance
perfectly the first time you attempted to ride on a bike? Didn’t you learn how to swim by first
nearly sinking? The reason children learn so rapidly is that they are not fearful of failure.

Failure is just opportunities to learn on the way to success and achievement. Zig Ziglar
says, “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well.” If your life is
going to be devoted to attempting things of real significance then you must learn to plow
through your fear of failure. Theodore Roosevelt said, “The only man who never makes a
mistake is the man who never does anything.” I don’t want to be a man who never does
anything. I would hope that you, along with me, would want to attempt bold and exciting
things for God in our lifetime. If that is our desire then we had better learn to conquer our
fear of failure and move ahead in spite of such fears. That is something God taught Moses
to do when the Lord called Moses to do something of great significance.

When God gives us a dream we should never let the fear of failing hold us back. Our life is
too short and God’s purpose is far too significant to waste over fear. God always calls us to
exhibit faith and courage in the face of fear.

Moses almost missed his calling because of fear. He was a murderer on the run, but God,
through a “burning bush” experience called him to lead the oppressed Hebrew people to
liberation. The first thing that struck Moses was fear.

When we are faced with a God sized task a common response is one of inadequacy. That
was Moses’ initial reaction. When called to this great mission, he said, “Who am I, that I
should go.” (Exodus 3:11, NAS) How could God choose him for such a grand task? It is
true that Moses had failed in the past, but that did not mean he was a failure. Too often we
are paralyzed by our fear of failure because we think since we have failed we must be
failures. Not so!

The fact is our adequacy is irrelevant. The point is God promises to be with us. God told
Moses he would be with him in the endeavor. He said, “Certainly I will be with you.” (Exodus
3:12, NAS) You see, my friend, your abilities do not matter. God’s power is what counts.
The Lord gives you a task and then he says I am your senior partner on the journey. God
does his work through us as we obey his call.

So stop saying, “I’d like to pursue that but I can’t,” or “I’m not smart enough, strong enough,
attractive enough, or wealthy enough.” Instead say, if God has called me to do it, if he has
placed it in my heart then I will do it knowing by faith that it will be God who will empower it to
be done.

Replace your fear of failure and inadequacy with a faith in God and his limitless ability and
pursue the dream he has set in your heart.

Dr. Greg Faulls is Senior Pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church in Owensboro, Kentucky.

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