ManageYourEmotionsBook8.5x5.5_RevJULY.indd

it’s not unusual to read about him trapped in a muddy cistern or locked up in stocks. He experienced little success by today’s stan- dards, as these words indicate: “Oh Lord,You have deceived me and I was deceived;You have overcome me and prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; Everyone mocks me” (Jeremiah 20:7). Can you imagine the humiliation and loneliness Moses felt after failing at his first attempt at leadership? Defending a Hebrew brother, he murdered an Egyptian and ran for his life in the Midian desert, where he remained for 40 years (Exodus 2:11-15). Countless people derailed by tragedies, failures, addictions, and other afflictions retreat into their shell and pine away in obscuri- ty, afraid to reenter the battle.They resonate with Job, who lament- ed, “He has removed my brother far from me,And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me. My relatives have failed,And my intimate friends have forgotten me” (Job 19:13-14). Inferiority- People who feel in their mind they don’t belong, don’t measure up, or aren’t good enough often insulate themselves rather than connecting with friends and family. Sadly, most are vic- tims of perception rather than reality. Called by God at the burning bush, Moses questioned, “Who am I that I should go,” then commenting, “I have never been elo- quent…I am slow of speech and slow of tongue” (Exodus 3:11, 4:10). I never cease to be amazed at people who feel unprepared and incapable for service, despite the fact that the Holy Spirit stands prepared to minister through them. A man went to a psychiatrist and complained about an infe- riority complex.After listening for a while, the doctor gave him the good news/bad news diagnosis. “The good news,” said the doctor, “Is that you don’t have a complex.The bad news is – you are inferior!” 19 Far too many fledgling souls have been told that lie belched from the bowels of hell and bought into it. Self-Centeredness- Ironically, a person that thinks too highly of himself can end up in the same place as the one with a low

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