Performance Anxiety

           Performance anxiety, also known as stage fright, comes when too much fear paralyzes the victim into thinking they can't do what they are trained to do. Like actors, singers, athletes and speakers, they all must perform in front of an audience for their job. Stage fright comes when several things take place in their minds. 

Unrealistic assessment of what is expected of them. Often times, the performer can over assess or completely overshoot the expectation that is on them. Take an athlete for example. If a quarterback for a very prominent team is playing in a playoff game, he might think he must make ten touchdown passes in the game to gain the love of the fans, the coaches, the team or the sports writers. If he doesn't then he is going to ruin his career, the teams reputation and more. His expectation of what everyone wants from him is an unrealistic assessment. He thinks they want him to perform at such a high level that he is afraid he cannot live up to that.

Underestimation of your capabilities. Often times, for those that are humble enough, they see themselves as having the inability to perform. Take a singer. Now she is great at singing in church, around friends and family but if she performs at a more public venue, then her assessment of her talent is way below what others think. She has in her mind that she can't sing well and that there's no point in trying despite the cheers, accolades and coaxing of everyone around her. When she hears their applause or hear them boast about her, all she hears is people who are being kind hearted and nice, that they are just being that way because they feel they must. She doesn't understand that her voice is like gold.

Overestimation of the opinion of others. Worldly people, let's say those living in the flesh instead of the Spirit, are always wanting to tear down instead of build up. When someone around them excels, especially those in their own profession, they tend to downplay that persons talents and performances. So much so that some that have stage fright are listening to others comments instead of listening to their own heart. Knowing that you have the talent, the means and the know how to perform and yet still listening to others opinions is giving yourself over to their control. Hence, the performance is effected.

The idea of rejection. One of the main reasons for performance anxiety is the idea of being rejected. For those who have heard way to many harsh words growing up in their lives, been rejected over and over for various reasons, taking risks are not in their wheel house. The constant rejection at every turn keeps them from moving out of their comfort zones. They stick to what they know and are comfortable with and they never move out of their lane. Often times, when it comes to performing, they just won't. Happy to be behind the curtain instead of in front of it, they lead a very mundane life of sameness. 

We as Christians are in the very same predicament as those taking the stage or performing in front of others. We treat God as our audience as well as others and we go through the same issues. 

Unrealistic assessment of what is expected of them. Don't we as Christians, always assess an unrealistic expectation of ourselves? Right out of the box we think we need to keep the commandments and laws and everything else the church says is bad. Trying to fulfill those expectations creates an unhappy Christian as they fail continually and create a larger separation from God than before. It's crazy to think we can follow the law, any law. If we try to fulfill any law then Christ died for nothing. The unrealistic expectation we have is that we can accomplish anything without Him. Full reliance on the Father is the only way anything can be accomplished.

Overestimation of the opinion of others. Whether a bad opinion or a good opinion, we should never listen to the opinions of others. The only thing we need to be listening to is the Holy Spirit, Jesus and Gods voice. Outside of that, the opinion of others take second place.

Underestimation of your capabilities. The only capabilities to do anything good comes through God. Instead of leaning on our own talents, we need to lean on Him. We have no capabilities yet we never fully realize what God can do through us. I think that is where we fail. I think we underestimate how, when and why God wants to work through us, so much so, that it limits His effectiveness. It's like Jesus said, don't hide your light under a bushel. 

The idea of rejection. This one is the big one. For most Christians,  they don't worry about being rejected by society but they worry all the time about being rejected by God. That they'll do something that causes Him to quit loving them. Again, they base God's love on works. This is where the works cycle and law and capabilities come in. We did nothing to deserve God's intervention, we did nothing to receive His love but accept it. We can't do anything to maintain it. That would be like saying, I must maintain the spin of the Earth. The Earth will continue to spin no matter what I do or don't do to it. God's love will continue on no matter if I accept or reject it and I have no power to change it. My actions, my opinions, my being good or bad, my daily devotion, my time with Him or lack of; none of that will ever change the love of God. God's love shines on us no matter what we do. It's like the sun. Do we think the sun stops shinning at night? No, it keeps shinning even though we cannot see it. It always shines. So, no matter if we are in the darkness or in the light, His love is always there. He will never leave you or forsake you. We just need to understand that fact.

To perform for God is not the purpose of His love. We cannot perform to draw Him nearer. We cannot perform to get His love or His acceptance of us. So if what we do, cannot make a difference in how He feels about us, then why do we have stage fright? If we never take the stage, we can never fail. So leave your anxiety behind and just be open to Him. He'll do the rest!

To God be the Glory!