Devotionals
Fear of Failure vs. Surrender
The Christian life can be so tranquil, ”My yoke is easy,” but our human nature often makes it complicated and burdensome, “My burden is light.” Jesus tells us to lay our worries and cares on Him, however we repeatedly choose to carry these burdens in the flesh. Yes, it is our decision to do things the hard way. That may sound harsh coming from this writer, but I am speaking to myself as well as you, dear reader. If you can’t handle the, “truth in love,” please read no further.
You’ve probably heard, many times, “we all have that one little area in our lives that we refuse not to turn over to Christ.” “Yes Lord, I give you everything, but please stay out of that one closet.” We may have heard it in Sunday school, in a sermon, perhaps listening to a Christian radio program. We nod our heads in agreement, some of us respond with an audible, “Amen.” Many of us however, walk away carrying the same load on our shoulders that we came in with.
I believe if you are human, a believer, and honest with yourself, you will concur with my declaration. I am simply making an observation that I have detected in my twenty-four years as a, “saved sinner.” I’ve, “been there, seen that, done that, do that,” so this dialogue is in no way directed at anyone reading this. It is solely my attempt to address an issue that, I feel, we all deal with on a daily basis.
During a recent Wednesday evening message I was confronted with the issue of hanging on to bad habits. I won’t specify mine, but I think you can all relate to my conviction. One of the major reasons the group discussed as a reason for our obstinacy in this area was, “fear of failure.” Ooh, that hurt, they ravished my best excuse. Have they been looking in my journal?
“No,” said the Holy Spirit to my heart. “They all experience the same battles that you face. You’re not so special when it comes to justifying your behavior. Many members of the ‘family’ have closets of their own. Let Me deal with them. You work on cleaning your own.”
I must admit, fear of failure is my basic problem in this area. After many attempts and failures too numerous to count, I locked the door and refused to even look toward it any longer. I didn’t realize it until two days later, but it was ordained that I be at that particular meeting for that designated message. I got slammed the hardest at Pastors closing comment. “The basic issue is failure to surrender.” Now that really hurt, but the truth of the Scripture can have that effect when God is trying to get our attention, which He did.
I initially started this article about a week ago. Life came along and it’s been sitting, still unfinished, since then. Have I surrendered yet? No! I am still my own worse enemy. Then, why am I submitting this for others to read if my closet is still locked? Good question…maybe somebody reading it has the same problem with surrender. Maybe you won’t be as “ hard hearted” and “stiff necked” as I am. Maybe you will enjoy victory as you surrender your closet key to Jesus.
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