Ash Wednesday…Day 1 of 40 for Lent 2020.

Noah and his Ark, Moses and the Red Sea, Daniel in the lion’s den, Mary when confronted by the angel Gabriel, even Jesus was fearful of what was about to happen to him that he even pleaded with his Father to “let this cup pass me by,” the night he was to be arrested.

My fears don’t even come close to what these people of the Bible had to encounter but they are still fears to me. It is so silly to even say these fears out loud to someone else.

I do fear failure. I am a people pleaser. I will do things for others so they don’t have to fail. I want everyone to be happy. All these traits keep me away from the feeling of failure.

That comes as a detriment to myself though. With me staying away from failure, I can have a very stiff personality, I don’t color outside the lines, and I compare myself to others. A lot. It is also very rare that I say “No” because I don’t want others to see that I can’t do it, that I am weak or I am not helpful.

When I first started this blog, I had fears before I published it and shared it with the world. “What if no one likes it?” “What if I don’t have any followers?” “I need to make sure it looks perfect before it goes live.” Those thoughts, doubts, and fears still pop up occasionally.

When we have these “What If” thoughts we have to turn to God and trust our faith. We have to have faith that things will be alright. When we are at the beginning of something new there will be fears of failing. We have to have faith that we are given a greater calling from where we once were.

Having my faith and knowing that God is with me every step of the way during this process of becoming a blogger has given me the strength and courage to conquer those feelings of failure.

I encourage you to look deep within and find what your fear of failure is. Write it down and share it with someone who can help you conquer that fear head-on during the next 40 days. If you would like, you can post it here and work together on your fears as well as mine.