9 - Dealing with the Fear of Success from a Christian Perspective

What on earth is the Fear of Success? Is this really a thing? Do people really struggle with this? Isn’t success the thing that we’re all sort of wanting in our lives in even the tiniest ways? Why on earth would we fear this? I hear you loud and clear because these questions and thoughts were the ones I had as well. Yet, as I followed the Lord into what I thought He was asking me to do I knew I was struggling with fears that were on the verge of debilitating but I couldn’t figure out what was at the root of them? The fear of failure was so up in my face, it felt easier to locate, describe and address, but there was still something else lingering in the background and when I boiled it down it was that there was a part of me that was afraid of succeeding. When we say success maybe what automatically comes into mind is a rich man on a yacht retired in his old age fanning himself with hundred dollar bills (just me?), but success can encompass so many things. If we want to start a business and it actually takes off, stepping out into a dream or pursuing what God is speaking to you, or it could be becoming free from harmful patterns we have allowed for far too long in our lives. Again, not so easy to identify why anyone wouldn’t want these things but let me ask you something…have you ever judged anyone who is successful because it has made you feel some kind of way? Be it insecure, behind, lacking, alone, inferior, whatever the case may be, often times the success they are embodying makes us feel less than about ourselves and so we will judge the people as bad, fake, wrong. So how do we deal with this in a world of social media set up for us to constantly judge one another, do you like this or don’t you like it? The first thing we can do is notice our thinking about certain topics or people, how does the person or this idea of succeeding in that way make me feel, how do I react? Is there a pain that is associated with this and where was that pain afflicted? What does the Enemy whisper to us about our self-worth and why we should loathe others who trigger our greatest insecurities? It can come up in so many ways. We can’t dare risk moving forward because it may cause pain or disappointment and so, we simply refuse to try or come up with a million excuses why we can not or do not want to try. Or what if having success means I make people uncomfortable (like healthy people made me feel being overweight) and they, therefore, reject me because I am successful, is it really worth it? Lastly, we can fear the result of having success, will people look at us more when we might want to stay hidden, will we have more responsibility when we aren’t sure we can perform, will we be expected to keep going and doing and can we handle that pressure. We know where we have always been but actually getting success in little or big ways is uncharted territory. We don’t know what it is like there, we don’t know if it is safe? If we are growing and using a large portion of our talents than we are successful. Becoming people of character, daring to have the conversation, volunteer for the ministry, start the podcast, every time we overcome our fears or dare to trust God and step out with what He has put in our hands we watch God do impossible things for no ones like you and me. What might we miss out on as an amazing adventure with our wildly creative and loving God because we allowed this fear to stop us? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- *We want to support all you are called to do, here are some ways to connect…* ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow the podcast on Instagram: CALLED TO BUILD ( https://instagram.com/calledtobuild ) Join the Community: CALLED TO BUILD COMMUNITY ( https://facebook.com/groups/calledtobuildcommunity ) Free Workbook: WHAT AM I CALLED TO? ( /called ) Follow Ashley on Instagram: http://instagram.com/ashley.morgan.jackson Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/called-to-build/donations