The Guilt and Fear Connection

UV 3487/10000 The Guilt and Fear Connection


The men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and (expecting the worst) they said, “ It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time (we came) that we are being brought in, so that he may find a reason to accuse us and assail us, and take us as slaves, and seize our donkeys.
Genesis 43 v 18

Our guilt often is the source of our fears. The serpent leader uses the guilt of our past misdeeds to prey upon our minds. Joseph’s brothers were haunted by the guilt of having sold their brother into slavery. When the governor Joseph asked that they be brought to his house which should be deemed as a privilege, they thought the opposite that Joseph wanted to punish them for theft. Instead of being joyful, they were anxious and worried. The serpent leader had stolen their joy. The modus operandi of the serpent leader is to first tempt us to sin and then to visit us as often as possible with the attendant guilt and fear of our misdeeds.


The Servant Leader, Jesus in contrast, washes us clean of our guilt, however great it be. He restores the Holy Spirit to us, comforts us, gives us hope and encouragement. He fills and refills us with joy for He knows best that it is our fuel. It is said that government servants work at the pleasure of the President. We live, work, endure and enjoy at the pleasure of the President of our hearts as of the universe, Jesus the Christ, Jesus, the Servant Leader. The worldly live for their own pleasure and act according to their whims as did the brothers of Joseph. They consequently get plagued by guilt and consequent fears.

Joseph was a fore type of Jesus, the Servant Leader. He lived in the moment while not forsaking his intimate connection with the infinite, the absolute, the Almighty. He had nothing to feel guilty about, He believed in Jehovah, God and trusted in His promises delivered to him as dreams. He loved his brothers as they were his own flesh and blood. He wanted to honour them, bless them with his generosity and hence, had the cash paid for the grain secretly returned to them on their first visit. He did not gloat when his brothers bowed to him as he had once said in accordance with his dream. The dream that was the cause of much of his misery was also the cause for his rise. He did not despise his bad days in the pit, in the house of Potiphar, in the prison but saw these as steps or part of the process for the Lord to shape him, groom him, endow him with wisdom and power, enlarge and fulfil his destiny, His purpose.