When Failure Threatens to Paralyze You

Sharing that things didn't go as planned here at Redemption's Champion was terrifying, but freeing at the same time. If I ask you to be transparent and vulnerable then I should do the same. Writing that post When Things Don't Go As Planned was opening a can of worms in some ways, but I am grateful.

Blogging makes your personal successes and failures public and offers a great opportunity for growth. As I meditated on that post and looked a bit further, recovering myself from failure is still a great struggle.

There are areas in my life right now where I perceive failure and am struggling to get back on the proverbial wagon. I have been asking the Lord what is at the heart of this issue? I don't think He has fully revealed the answer, but some lies that have been rumbling around in my head sound like this:

If I fail, I should give up.

If I fail, I will lose credibility.

If I fail, I am a failure.

Those are harsh y’all! No wonder I feel paralyzed.

There is a common theme in these lies, the "if" word, which is a red flag for fear. These lies are rooted in fear. The best way to fight fear is to do the very thing I am afraid of.

I have gone through a lot of re-starts in my life. One thing I’ve found consistent: the voice of perfectionism always tries to stop me. - Bonnie Gray

Truth must be spoken to challenge these lies.

You hear a lie, you treat it like truth, and it begins to define you, like a label. And then you act out of that label. - Annie F. Downs, 100 Days to Brave

When I fail I can pick myself back up and try again.

For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: Proverbs 24:16

People may react to my failure, but God never will.

The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7

I am not my failure, I am a child of God.

He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. Psalm 103:10

Only in seeking the Lord for the root of these lies and truth that counteracts them will I be free to move forward. Fear of failure may continually be a temptation designed to keep me from fully walking in my identity, but I get to choose whose voice I listen to.

Friend, it's time to stop listening to Satan's lies and labels so you can hear the truth. - Annie F. Downs, 100 Days to Brave

The fear of this post not being "perfect" tempts me to hit delete instead of publish, but in order to silence the voice, I must listen to love. Instead of doing what would make me feel safe and unexposed, I will do what must be done to overcome.

I have the key to freedom from fear of failure, I must choose to use it.