Fear of Failure

I always find the first sentence of a sermon, an email, or an article the hardest to write. Sometimes, not knowing where to start prevents me from beginning at all.

As I write this column, I am at the Magnificat Retreat Centre in the Wairarapa. It’s a beautiful place to be on retreat—a wonderful place to switch off from the busyness of life and connect with God.

Magnificat is located at the base of the Remutaka Rail Trail—a trail that takes you from just outside Featherston to Kaitoke. Many people who have been on retreat at Magnificat have climbed the 7 km incline to the Remutaka Summit and back again. Up until this week, I had not been one of them.

You may or may not be familiar with the personal development tool, StrengthsFinder. One of my strengths is ‘Achiever’. This means I like to complete tasks—hence my love of lists. Generally, if I start something, I will see it through. However, this also means that at times I hesitate to start a task for fear of not completing it—for fear of failing.

Yesterday, as I contemplated walking the Remutaka Rail Trail, I really wanted to do it. I wanted to tick it off my ‘to-do’ list, yet I was worried that I wouldn’t make it. You see, I don’t do a lot of long walks and I especially don’t do hills. But I did want to see what the view was like, and I did want to be able to say that I had completed the walk.

My fear of failing almost prevented me from giving it a go.

In the Bible, there are over 300 instances where followers of God are told, ‘Do not be afraid’ or ‘Fear not’. We are invited to trust God in all things—the big, the little and everything in between. Trusting God does not mean that our path will always be easy. Starting my 14 km walk was only the beginning. There were times when I wondered how much further I had to go, when I wanted to give up—but two lines from a song kept playing in my mind: ‘Step by step you’ll lead me … I will ever praise you!’

Over the retreat, Psalm 27:1–5 was used a couple of times, especially verse 4, which speaks of dwelling with God and gazing on his beauty. Yet all around this verse, the psalmist reminds us that life is tough. There are things that frighten us and prevent us from doing the right thing. Yet it says, ‘my heart will not fear’.

Whatever you might be facing today, if the fear of failure is stopping you from starting something new, remember that God is with you—always.

Lt-Colonel Liz Gainsford
Territorial Secretary for Spiritual Life Development