Wisdom for Wednesday - Fear of Failure

Welcome back! I'm so glad you're joining us for another edition of...

I recently found this quote to share with my 13 year old son. He is quite the perfectionist (wonder where he gets it...) and will often seem defeated before he even begins a challenge. He is a runner (definitely didn't get that from me--or his father, for that matter). He's a quiet, shy kid young man. He likes cross country because you run and then you're done, unlike track, where he has to 'hang out' waiting for his events. Each year, we try to help him set a goal for his mile time and he resists. Too afraid he won't reach the goal, even though he usually reaches and surpasses it. He's going into 8th grade and is worried about running longer distances--even though he got 3rd in his first ever 5K.

I struggle with the same defeating thoughts. For me, right now it is a challenge I was given last summer. Write a devotional book...different than the fiction books I have written before. I have made progress (over half way done), but I get stuck every once in awhile...afraid I can't finish.

So I wondered what it is about my son (and me) that makes us this way. That's when I found this quote and knew it was our fear of failure--much like Joshua as he was given the challenge to lead the Israelites. Interesting to note that "success" is only used once in the Bible. You can find it in Joshua 1:8 where God gives Joshua the keys to what I call Biblical success, followed by these reassuring words:

...Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Joshua 1:9