Fear of Failure

"In all toil there is a profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty" (Prov. 14:23).

The world is full of opportunity for those who seize the moment. However, many people never reach for the "brass ring," as I have heard it called, because they are afraid they will never reach it. But is never reaching the brass ring really such a terrible thing? I mean, the reality is that by not attempting to reach it, one has already accepted defeat, and thus, guaranteed that he will never reach it.

Fear of failure is a terrible master. It continually berates its servants for thinking that they can accomplish anything, pounds hope from their hearts and heads, and then leaves them immersed in their phobia. By not doing anything, one has already failed. Is living with the regret of what could have been easier than living with the regret of what wasn't? Is there not some consolation in having tried that doesn't exist for those who never tried?

This proverb reminds us that all toil is profitable. It isn't just that when we work we get money, but that in effort there is reward. Sometimes, it is success in the shape of attaining a dream. Sometimes, the reward is a lesson on patience or perseverance. Wish and wanting and talking are not rewarding. They're empty. Proverbs 14:23 informs us that it is worth the effort to pursue a dream with hard work and determination.

Let us not settle for "what could have been," without first giving everything we have to see could be with a little more effort, another call, one more letter. When every avenue of hope has been exhausted, when only answer to our persistent praying is no, when every door is shut tight in our face, then, and only then, should we consider moving on. Until then we need to toil with all our might trusting God will reward us in the way he deems best.