Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD;     Jeremiah 31:16

Ten months ago, I moved to San Diego, California, to be the co-creative director of a small advertising agency, in tandem with a woman I'd worked with in New York. It didn't take me long to figure out I simply wasn't qualified for the position; my partner, however, was highly qualified, which only heightened the pressure I felt to perform. Not only did I feel that I was doing poorly, my performance was in glaring contrast to her brilliance on the job.

My passionate partner, however, misjudged our boss's ability to accept her outbursts of anger. After six months, he took me aside and said, "I'm going to fire your partner, and I want you to step up and take control."

If I wasn't able to do the job in tandem with someone else, how was I going to do it by myself? I was scared. I felt as if I were the keeper of a terrible secret: I couldn't do the job, and the task before me was to keep everybody in the agency from finding out.

As the days went by, I thought more and more about quitting. But then I read something an advertising pioneer wrote just before he left the agency he had created and turned into a giant: "I'm leaving my agency because I'm no longer scared. As soon as I walk out of these doors for the last time, I'm going to climb a tree and walk out to the end of the thinnest branch I can find."

So I've decided to embrace the fear and trust God to use it to allow me to grow into the job. Isn't that what faith is all about?

Lord, You, too, felt fear on the Mount of Olives. Help me remember that faith is stronger than fear.

By Dave Franco