Fear of Failure Holding You Back? A Slow Start Is God Preparing You for His Purpose. | Self Worth for Christian Women | Set Apart Startup

If you're searching "self worth" or "fear of failure" as a Christian woman starting a business, this episode is for you. You've prayed about starting, you've listened, and you have an idea of what business you want to go into. But the page isn't ready, the idea isn't ready, and the launch date keeps moving.

For years at my job, I was passed over for promotions. I had the skills and the confidence, and I watched people who were less qualified move up because they knew how to please the boss. Then my boss started finding fault with what I did, and I started to doubt my own self worth. The rejections that followed when I went looking for another job added to the fear of rejection.

Self Worth and Fear of Failure: Where the Root Starts

Underneath being careful, there's a question you may not have said to anyone. What if I'm not enough? That is fear of failure. A lot of the time, the root cause of fear of failure is how we see our self worth.

I see that voice as the enemy's. Sometimes he whispers it in your own mind and thoughts. Sometimes he says it through someone in your life, like a boss who keeps finding fault. We don't have to keep listening to him.

Answer the Lie the Way Jesus Did

In Matthew 4, Jesus is in the wilderness, and the devil comes at Him with one thing after another. Each time, Jesus answers the same way: it is written. He answered with God's word, and the devil left Him. When the voice says you're not enough, find what's written and say it back.

Psalm 75:6-7: Promotion Comes From God

Psalm 75:6-7 (KJV): "For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another."

Promotion doesn't come from a boss, a hiring manager, or whoever happened to be in the room. It comes from God, and He is the judge. The people who passed me over and the companies that said no never got to decide my self worth. They don't get to decide yours either.

John Mark and a Slow Start

In Acts 12, Barnabas and Saul take John Mark along, so he's there from the very start of the mission. I believe that tells us the season he was called.

Acts 13:5 (KJV): "And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister."

Then in Acts 13:13, John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. The text doesn't tell us why. Later, in Acts 15, Barnabas wanted to take him on the next trip and Paul didn't, and it got so sharp between them that they went separate ways. If the story ended there, we'd call it a slow start. It doesn't end there.

2 Timothy 4:11 (KJV): "Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry."

Paul asks for Mark by name, and profitable there means useful for the work. The text doesn't tell us what happened in between. I believe God was refining him as he went, and that He walks us through the same thing, changing whatever is working against us.

Perfectionism Can Be a Hiding Place

For me, that was perfectionism. To make up for the lack of appreciation from my boss, I wouldn't call a project done until it was perfected. Secretly, I didn't want them to find any reason to put me down any further. I thought it was protecting me, and it was working against me.

You may be doing the same thing with your business: reworking the idea, fixing a page nobody has seen, polishing until nobody could find a flaw. Meanwhile, the women who need what you have can't find you. If it's taking longer than you planned, think of it as a scheduled delay from God, preparing you for His purpose. Your idea or your offer may not land with the buyer at first. Don't give up. In due season, the need will establish itself.

One Step This Week: Service or Digital Product

Decide whether you're offering a service or a digital product. A service is something you do for someone. A digital product is something you make once, and they can download it. Pick one and write it on a card. You don't need the page to be perfect. You just need the decision.

A question to ask yourself honestly: what has been telling you that you're not enough, and what does God's word say back?

Recommended for: Christian women solopreneurs in their first 0-2 years who have an idea of the business they want to go into but keep delaying the start; women who were passed over or undermined at work and still carry the doubt; women who keep polishing because they don't want to give anyone a reason to criticize.

Free resource: the Kingdom Clarity Checklist gives you space to pause and look at what's competing for your attention. 

If this helped, follow Set Apart Startup and leave a review so another woman can find it.

Related episodes:

• Doubting Your Calling Over One Harsh Voice? You're Doing a Great Work — Don't Come Down. | Fear of Being Judged for Christian Women | Set Apart Startup
  
• You've Prayed About Starting, Now What Do You Sell? Start With the Help People Already Ask For. | Sell Services as a Christian Woman | Set Apart Startup

 

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