Joel and Victoria Osteen
Fear is Contagious… So is Faith… (Inspired by Joel Osteen's Sermon)
Lets start with Something funny…
There was this old country farmer who took his nephew for camping… His nephew was the smartest kid alive… In the middle of the night the farmer asked his nephew… ‘Look up what do u see?’… Nephew replied, ‘I see millions of stars’… Farmer replied, ‘I know that but what does that tell you?’… Nephew replied, ‘Astronomically that tells me there are billions of galaxies… Theologically that tells me God is a great creator…What does that tell you?’ … The farmer replied…’That tells me… someone stole our tent’… Lol…
Throughout the day we have the choice to believe that the day is gonna be great… the day is going to bring us lotta joy…that god is in control… or just be worried … expecting the worst… wondering if we are gonna make it… I hear people say… ‘I am afraid I will loose my job’… ‘I am afraid my marriage will not last for long’ … ‘I am afraid my child might mingle with wrong crowd’… they don’t realize it but they are choosing fear instead of faith…
There is something in common about fear and faith… both tell us to strongly believe in something that is unseen… That pain in your stomach ….fear will say that same pain killed your grandmother… faith will say no pain is permanent … you will get over it soon…
Today all are acting like worried people… All are worried about the economy… All are worried about their health… All are worried about their family… But you can use the same energy to believe instead of worrying… it takes the same energy to believe… that it takes to worry… it takes the same amount of energy to say ‘I am not going to be laid off ‘ as it takes to say, ‘ I think I will be laid off’ … but you may argue saying Rashmi what if I keep saying that I wont be laid off but I do get laid off someday… what’s the use… my answer is what if you don’t get laid off... and even if you do… quit saying yes i thought as much.. i knew i would be laid off... my worry has come to pass... no... remember that when one door closes god will open an another door… a better door… with better finances… you will be left better off than what you were before… to get the new … you need to leave the old…
There was this young couple who were blessed with an amazing kid Jonathan… When Jonathan was just 1 year old he was really quite and a bliss to be around… one of the neighbors’ told Jonathans father John… its good to see Jonathan all nice today but wait till he turns 2… the 2 years are terrible… terrible 2 will soon begin… John just replied saying… Thanks for the encouragement … then he looked at his wife and said I am not letting those words sink into my mind… Jonathan turned 2… instead of a terrible 2 he was a terrific 2… then people told him… let him become a teenager… he will be a nuisance… but all throughout his teenage days Jonathan was a good child… then people told John… wait till he hits his 18… he will be rebellious… But Jonathan grew up to be an obedient good boy… John just told his wife.. Let him hit his 25…. Let him hit is 40…. Let him hit his 75… people will keep saying discouraging words… it’s on us to dwell in the worry or instead of that speak faith filled words to our kids… And Jonathan grew up to be a very good child… not like the ones people thought he would be…
At times we have people around who keep talking negative... who keep complaining how life is miserable… How bad their finances is … trust me… fear is contagious … worry is contagious… so be careful from people like them… what you got to do… go find some new friends… you need not be rude to them… you need not run away from them… But u need to pull away from such people slowly… Now don’t get up tomorrow and go to them and say that ‘hey you are contagious … I can’t talk to you anymore’… no do that tactfully and please avoid taking my name please… I want to live for some more time… (lol)… you may have some co-worker who is always complaining… Of course there are people in you life who are like that but they cant be avoided... maybe they are your closest friends… or he is your husband… or she is your wife… you cant run away from these people… with them all you got to do is listen to them… then surely go and take heavy doses of faith filled words.. Negativity, worry, fears are all contagious my dear … and if you are not careful you will be victim to that due to people around you…
I know fear is contagious, but the good news is faith is contagious, victory is contagious, joy is also contagious, hope is contagious, and peace is contagious. Hence be around faith filled people… Be around people who love to spread joy…
I know this lady who always had this fear that some burglar will break down their house someday… once a week she would tell her husband at the middle of the night to go check if someone is downstairs saying she has heard some noise… maybe it’s the burglar… poor husband would go down just to tell her there is no one around… this went on for many years… one night as always she heard some noise and asked her husband to go down and check … her husband went at ease … as it was his routine… but when he reached downstairs he was shocked to see the burglar… Burglar asked him to give all his valuables… and he did that… as the burglar was about to leave the husband told the burglar,’Hey hold on… Please wait… you should come upstairs and meet my wife… she has been expecting you since past 30 years’ … ;)
There was a colleague of mine Mr.X (Security reasons you see… Cant disclose the name) came one day in the morning… he had just not combed his hair… When he entered the cubicle one of our co-workers told him ‘Hey you ok… you look pale’… X replied saying,’ No I am fine’ … he was indeed fine… then some other person met him after some time and said,’hey man you look terrible… You feeling ok’ … X again replied… yeah I am fine… then a third co-worker told him, ‘Dude, you look sloshed’ … Now X thought if all are saying maybe I am not looking all that great… maybe I am looking pale… then the fourth co-worker came up and told him, ‘Are you down with fever or something’ … X replied saying,’Yeah many people have been saying since morning… maybe I will soon catch up fever’… And guess what… by 10 AM; X was outta office to meet his doctor… Lol
What you got from this… quit listening to sad voices… quit listening to words of fear… words that will beat you down… start your day right… don’t start your day with reading a newspaper with disasterous news… I am all for being acquainted with breaking news as they say… but with technology just flourishing we get to listen to all these sad news in various forms, packaged in different ways… start your day right… with right words…. With right people …. Happy go lucky people… And you will see the change in your life… as I said Joy is contagious… so take attempts to talk to people who are always happy … who are always smiling… who are always laughing… (don’t get ideas… such people may look crazy) …. But then its better than being around people who think life as doom and gloom … Right ;)
Cheers,
Rashmi
OR.. the other conclusion is.. choose to trust God rather than fear threat; God will use you to spread some cheer around to those who much need it! (i quite disagree with the idea of staying away from people who may not be in the best of moods or maybe dull for whatever reason..even if it is their personality).. we should rather be the ones that they can rely on for a smile :)
ReplyDeleteJesus said, "Love one another as I have loved you".. and Jesus would certainly not exclude people who seem to be grumpy all the time :)