Discouragement
You know the feeling. Discouragement crashes into your life.
Maybe serious illness has unexpectedly altered your way of
living. A marriage partner has broken their vows. A
cherished dream has vanished like a wisp of smoke in the
wind. Or perhaps discouragement creeps in almost unnoticed.
The cause is obscure and much less dramatic—a minor
frustration, a sense of overload, an undefined oppression.
Whether drastic calamity or vague apprehensions are the
cause, at some point in life everyone faces discouragement.
Somehow we lose heart, and suddenly find ourselves caught in
a downward spiral. When it seems that life is against us,
that we’re alone and confused and frustrated, where can we
turn?
The Solution in Scripture
We can turn to the Bible. It has emphatic instructions that
can help us move through discouragement and out on the other
side. These instructions come in the form of a command that
appears repeatedly in God’s Word. We read in Psalm 27:14,
“Wait on the Lord : be of good courage, and he shall
strengthen thine heart: wait, I say on the Lord .” And in
fifteen other places we find this exact phrase, “Be of good
courage.”
That’s very well, you may be thinking, but how do we fight
off this feeling of depression? What if it’s already wrapped
around us so tightly that we can’t seem to struggle free?
Perhaps we have already tried to reason through the feeling
or talk ourselves out of it, and that hasn’t worked. We know
discouragement accomplishes nothing except to make us feel
sorry for ourselves, sad, and forsaken. We must get on top.
But how?
God has the answer. For every conflict, every stress, every
heart-breaking circumstance of life, we can lean on a
marvelous promise of God that is unlimited in scope: “My
grace is sufficient.” That means He is willing and ready to
give us strength, encouragement, hope, counsel, and the
ability to endure whatever may be facing us.
Of course, we must not confuse discouragement with
condemnation. If God’s Spirit is dealing with us about a
spiritual problem, this should not be ignored or suppressed.
But when we know all is clear, we need to thank God that He
loves us. We should rejoice because He has promised to work
out all things for our good. We must talk to God, telling
Him that we need His grace and strength to overcome the
despondency that is threatening us. We must resist every
inducement to focus on our problems, and not allow self-pity
to drag us deeper and deeper into despair.
Others have faced it
It can be a help to know that we aren’t the only ones who
have had to face this kind of attack from the enemy of our
souls. It is Satan’s business to rob children of God of
their peace and rest in Christ. He’s been practicing this
tactic for thousands of years! As we read the stories of
spiritual giants such as Moses, Joshua, and Elijah, we find
they went through periods of great discouragement. But they
found that God had not forsaken them. He had their
situations completely under control.
What lesson is here for us? God would have us realize that
nothing about the situation we are in has escaped His
attention. He knows what has come our way, and why. In Psalm
37:23 we read, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the
Lord .” Take hold of that promise, and say, “I’m going to
believe God is in control of whatever is discouraging me,
and He can make it work for my spiritual good.” Look for the
victory. Expect God to answer, and He will.
Sometimes our own failures bring discouragement, but the
Bible tells us how to handle them too. David failed God, but
when he cried out for mercy and forgiveness, God restored
him. No matter how badly we have failed, there is mercy with
God. If we confess our failure to Him, He will not turn us
away. He gives “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness”
(Isaiah 61:3).
The difficulties facing us may be far beyond our ability to
rectify. Picking up the pieces of a broken dream, a broken
life, or a broken heart may seem impossible. But there is
nothing too hard for God to solve. He can and will help us
through discouragement. We can be victors instead of
victims!
Ways to Encourage Yourself:
•Get a concordance and find the places where the phrase, “Be
of good courage,” occurs in the Bible.
•Read John 14:27 and meditate on this promise of Jesus.
•Sing a favorite hymn.
•Quote Scripture to the devil, as Christ did.
•Recall in detail the victory you had the last time you
overcame discouragement.
•Pray. Specifically ask God for help in resisting
discouragement.
•Preach a strong sermon to yourself on the subject of
courage.
• Make a deliberate, verbal statement that you will not be
discouraged, and immediately thank the Lord for some
blessing.
•Decide what God wants you to do instead of yielding to
discouragement. He always has an alternative!
•Make a written list of all the possible results of being
discouraged. Then make a list of the results of being
encouraged.
•Imagine that you can see Christ praying for you—He is, you
know. See Hebrews 7:25.
•Consider how you would explain your particular
discouragement to Christ.
•Take action! Do something for someone.
Dealing With Discouragement
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