Fear, Security and Illusions
As women, we want to do it all. Be excellent wives, mothers, daughters and excel in our careers. These aspirations often come with the lingering fear of not wanting to fail anyone in our lives. We don’t want to fail our partners, children or parents. We want to do everything perfectly and effortlessly, not making any missteps that will take us off the path we have envisioned for ourselves.
In a society that is fear obsessed, it can be difficult to separate ourselves from this culture. It is easy to begin to fear everything, also adopting a deep-rooted sense that failure lurks around every corner of every single decision. In turn we become extremely cautious, often overthinking our steps or becoming paralysed to even make a decision at all!
Fear of failure is caution that becomes counterproductive and it does not allow us to take risks. The brilliant Helen Keller said something so profound in one of her most famous quotes: ‘Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.’ To take risks and be daring is life itself. There is no true security but opportunities that lead to different outcomes.
When we let fear reign in our lives we make bad decisions that draw us away from God and His plans and purpose. With this mindset, caution haunts every single thing we do and we miss out on some of life’s greatest gifts that may be hidden behind some of the riskiest opportunities.
Most of the things we fear are insignificant issues or things that will never come to pass. In fact, God did not give us the spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). He made us able to defy the odds and chase after our dreams and purpose. To be consistently afraid of taking the next step or just being afraid of what other people think of our choices are not feelings that come from God. They are lies and illusions that prevent us from reaching our full potential.
Often what God is calling us to do will be scary, because it does not look like the safe and easy option for us, free of risk. When we choose to walk in God’s plan and purpose, we open ourselves up to a number of risks. We may disappoint our family and friends by not doing what they like or expect, or we may lose some of our earthly possessions. Security and safety does not lie in these things anyway, it lies in God. Let us open ourselves up to gifts that God has in store for us by taking a risk or two.
