WHAT'S HOLDING YOU BACK?

by Patricia Bradley

Have you ever set a goal only to fail to meet it? I know I have…losing weight, saving money, eating healthier… oh, yeah. I’m not real great at reaching those goals, and I bet you have trouble there, too. The thing is, none of us likes to fail…

Which made me think about the farmer. Yep, you read right. The farmer. Think about it. Every spring, regardless of past failures, he plants a new crop, hope and anticipation mixing with the fresh turned dirt. He plants his seed in faith, and then he waits. He’s done all he physically can do. He can’t make the seed grow or control the amount of rain that falls. Those things are in God’s hands.

Like the farmer, we set our goals, do the preparation and look forward to seeing the harvest. But sometimes our goals don’t get the needed rain or they stagnate, and we perceive that as failure. So we quit trying. 

What is fear keeping you from doing? What are you not doing because you fear you’re not good enough, smart enough, whatever? A few years ago, when my mother was in her eighties, she learned how to program a VCR. Then a few years later, she wanted to learn how to text and how to use a computer but was afraid she couldn’t do it. I told her anyone who could program a VCR could learn how to Google or text. She accepted the challenge and before long, she was googling, and texting the whole family, and keeping up with everyone on Face Book. She even had her own FB page. 

If my ninety-year-old mother could risk failing, so can you. So can I. 

Not long ago I sent out a proposal for a new series. Because I’d been late on the last two projects that required a LOT of rewriting, I hesitated to send it, not sure if my publisher would take it, but I did. Then I waited, knowing the harvest was in God’s hands. 

And that’s what I challenge you to do—if there’s something you want to try, do it! Don’t let fear hold you back. If I had, I wouldn’t be working on a new book now. 

What new thing have you always wanted to do but fear holds you back? Leave a comment and I’ll enter you in a drawing for an audio code for Counter Attack (or Fatal Witness if you’ve read Counter Attack).

Alexis Stone has no sooner been sworn in as the chief deputy for Russell County, Tennessee, when a serial killer dubbed the Queen’s Gambit Killer strikes again–this time in her hometown. 

Pearl Springs is just supposed to be a temporary stop along the way to Alex’s real dream: becoming the first female police chief of Chattanooga. But the killer’s calling card–a white pawn and a note with a chess move printed on it–cannot be ignored.