Don’t be afraid.” So how do we deal with fear? Once again, let’s turn to the life of Joseph and see how he successfully dealt with it.Ĥ KEYS TO OVERCOMING FEAR AND LIVING WITH COURAGE It discourages, distracts, divides, derails, disrupts, dissuades, destroys, disheartens, distorts, diminishes, deceives, depletes, deprives, damages, and defrauds us! God tells us the opposite. The great theologian Yoda said, “Fear is the path to the Dark Side.Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate lead to suffering.” All kidding aside, the truth is that fear is not good for us. Perhaps some of those hit a little closer to home. Quite a list, huh? How about the “Top 10” fears that hold us back in life? And receiving honorable mention are: snakes in the toilet, rats, zombies, citrus fruit, clowns, jelly fish, vegetables.Here’s a recent “Top 10” list of fears people have: A breakdown in how the brain processes and reacts.
As a recent University of Minnesota study outlined though, fear can literally be harmful to your health. What do you fear? Job security? Family security? Health security? Most fear is bad, but certain types of fear can be good: the fear of God, being hyper-alert when we drive, etc. The key to developing faith is to believe and not doubt.Įveryone has fears to overcome.The testing of your faith develops perseverance.That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. James 1:3-8 - “… the testing of your faith develops perseverance… If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.FAITH (a strong belief and complete trust in God) vs.The opposite of FAITH is not fear, but DOUBT.The fearful are caught as often as the bold.” Hellen Keller said, “Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run that outright exposure.Do not be terrified do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 reminds us to “be strong and courageous. Fear discourages and debilitates, it robs you.Josh 1:6 - “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.”.Do not be terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you he will never leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6 - “ Be strong and courageous.COURAGE (stepping forward and doing the very thing that fear says you can’t do) vs.One way to differentiate between courage and faith is to consider their polar opposites: FAITH is having complete trust or confidence in someone or something strong belief.COURAGE is the ability to do something that frightens you strength in the face of pain or grief.A married couple working through some major issues.A young person not succumbing to peer pressure.
The person valiantly working to overcome addiction.We don’t have to look far to see the many examples of courage all around us: As we have for the past 7 weeks, let’s dive in and take a look at the lessons we can learn from his life. Joseph was a man of faith and he also exemplified great courage.
The Bible commands us to have faith it also challenges us to have courage. At some point in our lives, every one of us will need to demonstrate faith and courage – but they’re not the same thing. It takes courage to make changes in those areas of our life that need changing. If we’re careful to evaluate our lives (even in the tough areas) and emulate godly greats, we can elevate the level of our living as we work to become more like Christ. Ask how you can better emulate godly greats like Joseph (and Jesus, of course). As you read through this portion of scripture and see all that Joseph faced, ask yourself how your life compares to the teachings of scripture. How has it been to evaluate your VISION, your INTEGRITY, your FAITH, your MONEY, your GODLINESS, and your RELATIONSHIPS? If you’re a bit behind, read through the story of Joseph’s life in Genesis 37-50 and you’ll see why we’ve chosen to focus on the life of this godly man. We’re rounding third base and heading for home on our ELEVATE series.
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