Once bitten twice shy

Once bitten twice shy 

"Jacob didn't send Joseph's brother Benjamin with them; he was afraid that something bad might happen to him." (Gen.42.4) 

Fear of past failure is one reason future success is aborted. The story of the fish in an aquarium that keeps bumping its head against a hard object every time it tries to reach its food comes to mind. The aquarium is divided in half by a transparent glass. The fish is on one side and its feed on the other side. Through the transparent glass it can see its feed but when it tries to reach the feed, it bumps into the transparent glass. After several tries, it gave up. So even when the transparent glass was removed, it would not reach for the feed. 

That is the story of Jacob in our text. He had let Joseph, his beloved son out of his sight, alone with his other brothers, perhaps for the first time and Joseph did not return home. Now he is scared to let Benjamin out of his sight. Once bitten twice shy. What is it you are scared to attempt because you failed at it the first time? 

Our text says that he was afraid something bad was going to happen to the boy. The fear was all in his mind. If we live our lives based only on the fears in our minds, most people will not even leave their homes. What do you think kept the eleven other disciple from stepping out of the boat when Jesus gave the word, come? It was the fear of the unknown - but this time, they knew that if they step out of the boat, they will probably sink. I could hear some of the saying to themselves when Peter began to sink: "I knew this was going to happen. 

What if you step out...and you do not sink? What if you succeed at that task? Trust God that He is with you every step of the way. What he was so afraid would happen to the boy never happened even when he finally let him out of his sight. What we fear most, often do not happen. Do not let the fear of past failures stop you from living your life. Do not judge the possibility of tomorrow base on the successes or failures of yesterday but what God says in His word. 

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1Cor.2.9 KJV)

Good day,
Have a great day today,
Emmanuel Okoro,
(aka Mr. Lift) 

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