The fear of failure is a real detriment to progress. The reality of life is that almost every successful endeavor is preceded by failure. High achievers just don’t allow the fear of failure to influence them. What if every time a basketball player missed a shot, they would quit shooting? Or a receiver would hang it up if he dropped a pass? What about a fisherman that would quit after not getting a bite on his first or second cast? What’s even worse is the person who will not try at all because they might fail. There are those who will tell you that it can’t be done so you don’t even try.

Jesus gave a parable about sowing seed in Matthew 13:3-9. He said that a farmer went out to sow seed and some fell on hard soil and the birds came and ate the seed.

Some seed fell on rocky soil and it couldn’t put down roots that were deep enough so the seed came up, but the sun scorched it. Other seed fell among thorns and the thorns choked it out. But some fell on good soil and it produced a harvest of 30, 60, or 100 times that of the seed.

In everything we endeavor to do, we should think of this parable that Jesus told. The farmer did not quit sowing because the seed fell in the wrong places. He just kept sowing seed and much of it fell on the good soil. It didn’t matter that some fell on hard beaten down soil, or rocky soil, or among thorns; the end result was that there was good soil and there was seed that took root there and produced a harvest many times greater than the collective seed that was sown. Three types of soil failed to produce a harvest but one type made up for the soil that did not produce.

The athlete will miss but they keep trying. Eventually the basket is made, the pass is caught, and the fish are in the boat. That is a fact of life so don’t give up. Try again, and again, and again if necessary. You can’t get a person down that will not quit. Failure is in the formula for success. Failure is nothing to fear!

Join us at the Gathering Place every Wednesday evening at 7 and Sunday morning at 9:30 and 10 where we learn about the keys of the kingdom.