I went to a college basketball game and watched the players play their hearts out.  Everyone pushed themselves up and down the court except one “star player” who seemed to lag behind.  Someone from the crowd shouted, “What a waste of talent” and by the end of the game, the crowd booed when this guy got the ball.

In real life, some people consistently give their best both at home and work, while others seem to waste their time, talents and opportunities.  When we “waste our talents” we end up living smaller lives than how we were meant to live.

So why do we sometimes act this way?

The root of the problem is often hidden inside one of Satan’s tricks called “fear of failure.”  When we are subconsciously afraid of failing, it often paralyzes us from trying our best and may even prevent us from starting new projects.

For example, just think of all the computer programs you’d like to learn but have never even tried, simply because you’re afraid you won’t get it.  When we are afraid of failure so that we don’t try our best, it gives us built in excuses such as “It wasn’t that important to me,” or “I didn’t really want it.”

The bottom line is that our lack of effort – and therefore our lack of using our talents – ultimately results in the thing we feared the most:

Failure.

God knows our fears (the words “fear” and “afraid” are mentioned 541 times in the Bible) and wants us to not be afraid.  He wants us to come to him and tell him about our fears and ask him for strength and courage.

You must know that it is okay to be afraid.  There is an old saying, “You cannot have courage unless you are first afraid.”

Let’s pray, “Dear Jesus, I confess to you that I am afraid.  Thank you for understanding my fear and loving me anyway.  Please help me to follow your example, to have the courage to face my fears and to be the best me that I can be.  I want to be the very best version of me that I can be.”