Title: Fear and Faith
Contents
Bible: 1 John 4:18-21
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When we think of our future, we think of post-retirement years. In particular, we see that men do not use their time as well as women after retirement. The era has gradually become and is becoming a nuclear family. As the number of older people living alone increases, it is often discovered after a long period of time rather than immediately after death. In the case of Japan, where the nuclear family is more advanced than Korea, more than 20 elderly people living alone die every month, and there are cases where they are discovered after a long time. It is terrifying to think about the future in an era where living and dying have become such concerns.
After the death of Moses, the fears and worries of the people of Israel, who were unable to go out to Canaan any longer and were sitting down, are the image of us modern people living in fear of the future. This fear is like waiting for Elijah to die under the broom tree. We want to live a life that we only live once with courage rather than fear. To that end, the Bible says in Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” We should not look to the future that lies before us with fear, but we should fear and fear God.
Psychologist Freud said in his book that 10% of the fears we experience in life are real fears and the remaining 90% are fears of things that will not happen. Of those 90%, 40% are fears of the past and 50% are concerned about things that will never happen. How can we overcome unusual fears? It sent Moses away and said to Joshua, who was sitting down, “Joshua, am I not with you? No one can beat you So get up and go forward. Isn't it because of your personal greed that you conquer the land of Canaan and not for God's will? No one can overcome you. get up and go Go forward with courage.” Says. Overcoming fear is faith and courage that God is with you. The same is true of young David who defeated Goliath.
There is a woman named Ruth in the Old Testament. After his husband died, his mother-in-law, Naomi, encouraged Ruth to return home. However, Ruth followed her mother-in-law to Israel, her mother-in-law's hometown, which was not her hometown or her own people. Although Ruth, a foreign woman, had many difficulties when she went to live in the land of Israel, she was honored to become the grandmother of King David, Israel's greatest king, by serving the God that the Israelites serve and taking good care of her mother-in-law.
When Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa, there was a lot of worry when the white regime gave power to the blacks in South Africa. “I don’t know how much we have trampled on black people because of the segregation policy called segregation. I was filled with such fear. Then Nelson Mandela makes an important point. “No more retaliation, no revenge, no hatred, no conflict in South Africa. South Africa has nothing but love and inclusion.” As this man became the black president, when he spoke clearly, the fear and hatred between black and white began to dissipate.
Love overcomes fear. How will we live in the future? We pray in the name of the Lord that we will live courageously because God is with us, and that with the love of Christ, we will overcome hatred and fear and become members of the Hanshin Church who live victoriously.
2010-11-12 16:07:12