WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL
MAY 09, 2025
TOPIC: DON’T LET THE FEAR OF FAILURE KEEP YOU FROM SUCCESS
BY T. O. BANSO
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7 New King James Version).
Suppose that very early morning when Mary Magdalene and two other women got to the tomb of Jesus, they couldn’t go in to anoint His body with spices because there was nobody to help them roll away the stone from the door of the tomb (Mark 16:1-3). Suppose the stern-looking guards drove them away from the entrance of the tomb. They would have wasted the time and money they had spent to buy the spices to anoint Jesus’ body. Their mission would have been a failure.
It is this kind of negative thinking that has stopped many people from making progress in life. The fear of failure has kept many from success. They thought they could fail, but they could also succeed. Don’t be afraid of failure.
The women, who went to the tomb of Jesus, knew that the stone at the door of the tomb would prevent them from entering it, but they believed that they would be able to enter. That’s why they didn’t turn back. God came to their help. Before they got there, an angel of the Lord had rolled away the stone and sat on it (Matthew 28:2).
These women and the disciples of Jesus did not expect His resurrection, which He had spoken about before His arrest and crucifixion. That was why the women came to anoint His dead body! But Jesus had risen. Even when they failed in their mission to anoint Jesus’ body as there was no longer a need for it, they succeeded in a big way! They were the first to know of His resurrection. The men – His disciples – were in hiding!
Don’t live your life to fail but don’t let the fear that you may fail keep you from success. Those who fail to take steps of faith because they may fail don’t succeed! Those who take steps of faith or take risks (as the world would say) may not always record favourable outcomes, but their faith in God will pay off eventually. A risk here does not refer to a foolish adventure.
Failure is not a person; it’s an event. It is still possible to succeed in what one has failed before. People have failed examinations before but passed after another attempt or other attempts. Boxers have lost their titles before and reclaimed them another time. Football teams have lost at home before and defeated their opponents in away matches.
In Joshua 1, God stressed to Joshua repeatedly the need for him to be courageous to fulfil the assignment entrusted to him after the death of his master, Moses (verses 6, 7, 9). You, too, need to be strong and of good courage to fulfil your destiny. Don’t let the fear of failure immobilize you and hinder you from entering your Promised Land. Don’t be afraid of the giants.
Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh told the unbelieving Israelites who were afraid of the giants, “ Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them” (Numbers 14:9 New King James Version).
When God wanted to deliver the Israelites from the seven-year oppression of the Midianites, He raised Gideon as their deliverer. Gideon had an army of 32, 000 men. But God said the army was too large, lest Israel would vaunt themselves against God, saying their hands saved them. Therefore, He asked him to reduce their number by asking those who were fearful and trembling to return home. He must have been shocked when 22,000 departed, remaining only 10,000 men (Judges 7:2-3). That showed that Gideon was going to fight the war with fearful people in the majority.
If he had won the war with these people, Gideon would have wrongly credited his soldiers with the success, not knowing that the majority of them were fearful, but God gave them victory. However, God reduced the 10,000 soldiers to 300 because the people were still too many. He gave victory to Israel by them. Don’t let fear keep you from the success that God wants you to experience.
It is true that Peter walked on the sea and began to drown when he doubted, but he still walked on the sea again because Jesus caught him and they both walked into the boat (Matthew 14:30-32). The other disciples, who didn’t take a step of faith, didn’t walk on the sea. Peter wasn’t a failure!
Matthew 17:14-16 records the failure of Jesus’ disciples to cast out a demon. It says, “And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, ‘Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him’” (New King James Version). Jesus rebuked them for being faithless and healed the man’s son.
Nevertheless, the disciples didn’t remain at this level. They put that failure behind them and continued with Jesus in the ministry. They didn’t see themselves as failures. The Bible says of them later in the early church, “And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people” (Acts 5:12 New King James Version).
Also, Peter, who had denied Jesus Christ three times, later provided good leadership for the apostles after Jesus had restored him (Mark 14:66-72; Matthew 26:69-75; Luke 22:54-62; John 18:15-18, 25-27; John 21:15-19). He preached a powerful message on the Day of Pentecost and 3,000 souls were saved (Acts 2:41). Failure for Peter was not final. It should not be for you. You may have failed before, but don’t let the fear of failing again keep you from success. Don’t be afraid of failure. God will crown your efforts with success.
The four lepers at the entrance of the gate of Samaria said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die” (2 Kings 7:3-4 New King James Version).
These lepers took their lives in their hands; they went to the camp of the Syrians. They discovered they had fled and ate to their satisfaction. They also saved the people of Samaria from hunger by informing them about what had happened.
2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (New King James Version). Don’t let the fear of failure prevent you from starting a project, course, business, or anything God has laid on your heart or instructed you to do. Deal with your fear. Overcome it; don’t let it overcome you.
Don’t let the fear that you may fail keep you from success. Believe you will succeed. Act upon the Word of God. Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Even if you make mistakes, God is bigger than your mistakes. He will work all things together for your good because you love Him and you are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). If you don’t take a step of faith and do something, you will not fail, but neither will you succeed.
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. Take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner, and cannot save yourself, and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, and Bible-practising church. There, they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner, and I cannot save myself. I believe Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me, and God raised Him on the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You must join a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, and Bible-practising church where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.
PRAYER POINTS: I rebuke the spirit of fear that wants to prevent me from succeeding in life. I shall not fear, and I shall not be ashamed or disgraced, for the Lord is on my side. He will turn my failures into success in Jesus’ name. God is working all things together for my good because I love Him and I am called according to His purpose.
(For over 900 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).
T. O. Banso is the President of Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
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