Book Study: Chapter 6, Fear of Physical Appearance
We’ve come to Chapter 6, which also means we are halfway through our Fear and Faith Book Study. I’ve loved reading through your comments and also spending time in the stories of the various biblical characters we’ve looked at. Time and time again we’ve seen the faithfulness of God towards unfaithful people. He is amazing!
As I was reviewing the story of Leah from last week and this week’s chapter, I think that her story and our fear of physical appearance mesh well together. In many ways, our fear of physical appearance is also a fear of not measuring up. We fear not measuring up to societal standards, our friends’ standards, our husband’s standards, or most often our own standards for how we think we should look.
If you didn’t get a chance to read last week’s study, jump on over there to read it. If you are behind on material from previous weeks, feel free to use this week to catch up.
And, regardless of how you spend this week, here’s a prayer to help you reflect on our great, glorious and all-powerful Lord:
Our holy and majestic God, your name is above all names and worthy of our praise.
Not all will be as we desire today, Lord, but we can rest knowing that you are good and sovereign. We can rest knowing that you are God. We can rest knowing that Jesus paid it all and He is our true rest.
Lord, you are the great provider. We thank you most of all for your provision of Christ. Thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice. You promise to give us all things for life and godliness. We rely solely on you as we pursue you and walk out this life of faith.
We confess that we have sinned. We sin every time we compare, when we judge our neighbor, and as we think about measuring up and physical appearance. We sin as we try to justify ourselves and pursue worldly measures and standards. Lord, help us put off those sins and temptations and put on the fruit of the Spirit and godliness.
Thank you, Father, that we can approach your throne of grace in our time of need. Thank you that, Jesus, you are our righteousness and all of our sins are forgiven. Thank you that you say our sins are as far as the east is from the west in your sight because of your sacrifice. Thank you that you promise to finish the good work you began in us. Thank you that one day we will see you face to face. Oh that day is coming and it will be glorious.
Yours truly is the kingdom, power, and glory forever.
Amen.
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” Psalm 56:3
RELATED CONTENT
Fear held a tight grip on my life. It wasn’t just segmented to one area for me — no, the lies and anxiety of fear spread to so many of my relationships and situations. Pause and think about how fear impacts you. What do you fear specifically, and why does that fear have such power in your life? My own struggle with fear is one of the reasons I wrote Fear and Faith. It’s not a book about a woman who has arrived, rather it’s about how I’ve learned to fight for faith. Fear is ultimately rooted in unbelief, that’s why we need faith. So, Fear and Faith is about God—it’s about his goodness, grace, sovereignty, love, wisdom, and protection. And the book is a reminder that there is One strong enough for all your fears…s