Many years ago I went to Washington, DC to do a series of messages. I went back there a few years later and I met a young lady who came up to me and said, “I want to thank you.” I said. “For what?” She said, “When you came here the first time I had so many fears. One of my fears was I did not want to get behind the wheel of a car. I didn’t know how to drive. I didn’t want to learn. After listening to your messages, something you said caused me to overcome that fear. Now I have my license, I’m driving to work, I’m so happy. It changed my life.” I thanked her for sharing her testimony with me and I have shared it with you because I believe this message will also help you overcome your fears.

There probably isn’t anything people are not afraid of. There is the fear of heights, fear of flying, fear of open spaces, fear of closed spaces, fear of cats, fear of dogs, fear of vehicles, fear of people, fear of spiders, fear of lightning and on and on. There are people who won’t leave their room because of fear. They won’t go out to meet the public, they won’t get in an elevator, they won’t get on an airplane and their life is extremely limited by all these fears.  

The number one fear that keeps people from achieving success is the fear of failure. In Matthew 25, there is a recording of one of Jesus’ parables. Jesus told about a man who was about to go on a journey and he called his servants and entrusted his property to them. He gave one man five talents, another two, and to another he gave one.

Sometime later the Master returned to settle accounts. The man with the five said; “Master you entrusted me with five talents, I have gained five more.” The Master told him, “Well done, you are a good and a faithful servant. You’ve been faithful over a few things, I’ll enlarge you, put you in charge of many things. Come and share your Master’s happiness!” The same thing happened with the man with the two talents, but something different happened with the man with the one talent. The man with the one talent said, “Master I know a lot about you. You’re a hard man, you harvest where you have not sown and gather where you have not scattered seed; I was afraid and I went out and hid your talent in the ground. Here is your money back”.

This third servant was afraid to risk, afraid to invest, afraid to take a chance, afraid to lose. He thought, “What if I invest the Master’s money and it doesn’t work out, then I’ll have to deal with him and he is a very hard man to deal with.” But the Master didn’t like that response. The Master said, “You wicked, lazy servant. You know that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?” I want you to notice what the Master said; “You should have put my money on deposit with the bankers.”

God doesn’t demand that you take a great risk like the man who had five talents and came back with five more. That’s not putting money in the bank; you can’t do that in a bank; he did something extraordinary, he invested. The man with two talents also came back with two more. That’s extraordinary - it’s a 100% return!

God is looking for some return too. He’s looking for a return on his investment in YOU. It doesn’t have to be 100%. He says you can put it in the bank and he’ll take the current interest rate of 5%. If God has given you a skill at something and you’re letting fear paralyze you from using it, I want you to know that God is telling you he’s displeased with that. You’re not doing any good preserving the talent and the skill. God wants you to use them, not hide them away.

The Lord has shown me that there are many people who are paralyzed by fear. They’re like the lazy servant; they won’t do anything. They’re hiding what God has given them. I have met many of these paralyzed people. Some have been divorced and now the fear of failure has prevented them from moving into another marriage. Some are afraid to get married because they don’t trust themselves. They feel the marriage may end in divorce; they’re afraid to fail, afraid to go for a new job, afraid to ask for a promotion, afraid, afraid, afraid, of everything. That fear of failure prevents them from doing anything. They live a safe life but it’s not the kind of life God wants them to live. Don’t miss out on the life God has to offer you because of your fear of failure.

How can you overcome your fear of failure? You have to look back in your life and see what successes you have had and draw from those successes. When David faced Goliath he knew he would succeed because he drew on his past victories over a lion and a bear. If I have a habit that I’m trying to break and it’s giving me a lot of trouble, I always have confidence that I’ll break it eventually. But what gives me such confidence? It’s because as I look back in my life I see the success I had in breaking other difficult habits.

What if you are one of those people who can’t draw on past successes? If you can’t draw on your own success, draw on the success of others. Years after David killed Goliath, David and his men went into battle against the brothers of Goliath who were just as big. David’s men learned from him that they could conquer giants, and they killed all the other giants that attacked them. They had lost their fear of giants. Before Roger Banister broke the four minute mile, people thought it was an impossible feat. No one had ever been able to run that fast, but once Roger Bannister did it, other people drew from his success and now breaking the four minute mile is a common occurrence.

Always remember this, if you have done something similar in the past, you can do it again in the future. If others with similar challenges have accomplished something by practice and determination, you can do it too. Don’t ever be afraid to fail. It’s better to attempt something great and fail than to attempt nothing and succeed.

Pastor Earl Darling is founder of The SHARP Solution Seminar, a program for complete recovery from addiction.  If you’re tired of failing, we have the SOLUTION at:  www.awmsolution.org