Then we saw the Nephilim [or giants]… – Numbers 13:33, Amplified Bible

When I was in fifth grade my social studies teacher challenged me to enter the annual Optimist Club Oratorical Contest. I accepted the challenge, crafted a downright great speech (so I thought), and arrived on contest day with confidence. Sure, I had a few butterflies in my stomach, but I knew my speech, and I anticipated perfection. Reciting my speech just the way I memorized it, I was trucking right along until I forgot one of my lines. I froze, realized I had just failed in my pursuit of perfection, felt the world closing in on me, and ran from the stage crying. The next year, I tried my hand at the contest again, and I ended up with the same result. I refused to speak in public for years after that, totally terrified of failing again.

Fear of failure can be paralyzing, and for me it became as terrifying as the giants facing the Israelites in Numbers 13. Granted, the giants the Israelites faced wanted to kill them. The only thing my giant wanted to do was kill my ego. But, therein lay the problem. I entered that contest to earn the praise of others for a speech well done. When I made that first, simple mistake, I felt the glory I craved slip through my fingers, and my composure slipped away right behind it.

In some cases, failure can have physical consequences, like those facing the Israelites. But many times (if not most of the time), the failure we fear only has emotional consequences. We worry so much about what others will think of us if we fail in a sport or in a performance or in a business that we do nothing rather than take the chance that success, rather than failure, will result. If God has given you a venue with which to glorify Him, and you allow fear of failure to freeze you into inaction, then you’ve put your glory ahead of God’s, and that is sin.

Don’t fear the Nephilim in your life. When God puts you in a place to face the giants, He’s doing so because He knows the only way you’ll win is with His help. Forget about yourself, move forward into battle, and trust God for the victory. If you will, you’ll overcome the giants, and you’ll glorify the God of Heaven who made it possible for you to win the day.