First Thoughts

Dealing with Discouragement
Are You Discouraged?
Everyone has experienced the signs of discouragement. Your motivation is low, your confidence deflates, your courage is gone. You feel like you have been throwing seeds in a field, day after day, only to find no growth. You begin to wonder: “What’s the point?”
Everybody gets discouraged.
Discouragement is usually circumstantial – the accumulation of enough trial and struggle that our knees buckle under the weight. And sadly, the temptation to discouragement is inevitable in a fallen world. Constant euphoria is not the expectation of the Christian until we are with Jesus (Revelation 7:15-17). There are no silver bullets to avoid the thorns and thistles of this world.
We don’t need silver bullets. We need biblical truth to help us understand the discouragement we are experiencing and to fight for renewed strength in the Lord.
So, my discouraged friend, I have no silver bullet and quick fix to offer you. But I do want to remind you of the biblical truth that we so easily forget when the fog of discouragement settles over our souls. Pause for a moment – and lean in to consider what God says about your discouragement.
Remember the Causes of Discouragement
I will not presume to know the exact reason you are discouraged, but I imagine it falls within one of three categories.
First, we get discouraged by the difficulty of life. Life is very hard. Paul recounts that his life is marked by being afflicted, crushed, perplexed, persecution, being struck down, and being given over to death (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). You experience a prolonged sickness that forces you into isolation. You experience intense pressure from an unreasonable boss. Your relationship with your kids is tense, and nothing you do resolves the issue. Thorns, thistles, and groaning marks this life (Genesis 3:18; Romans 8:22-23), and it is discouraging.
Second, we get discouraged by the enemies of our soul. Believers in Jesus have been gloriously delivered from the punishment and power of sin (Romans 6). Yet, we still wage a persistent battle against the presence of remaining sin in our life (Galatians 5:17-22). We respond to the difficulties of life with sinful fear, anxiety, anger, and despair that fail to trust God and his promises. Add to this the opposition of Satan, who wages war against us through constant temptation (Ephesians 6:12ff). And all of this happens in a world that hates God and is blinded to his power (1 John 2:15-17).
We are constantly engaged with these enemies, and it can result in discouragement.
Finally, we get discouraged because we are human. When the Bible talks about us, it uses words like dust, grass, and fading flowers (Psalm 103:14). That is because we are, by nature, limited and weak. We are finite. We get tired, hungry, and exhausted. During these times, we are prone to discouragement.
Yes, discouragement comes in all shapes and sizes, but the odds are you are experiencing your discouragement in one of these categories. This is the first step out of discouragement. Recognize that God understands and has categories for what you are experiencing. If that is true – there is hope for brighter days ahead.
Respond with Faith to Discouragement
Those brighter days can begin by continuing to listen to the God who does not simply understand our discouragement but calls us to respond to it by faith in his Word. I want to encourage you to consider four simple steps you can take today if you are battling discouragement.
1. Remember What You Are Forgetting
Discouragement is usually a “telescoped” life. You see some area of your life marked by difficulty, struggle, sin, or weakness – and you look at it through a zoom lens. You begin to believe that that trial, person, and issue is all that there is when there is a universe of work that God is doing in your life.
Discouragement forgets God’s power, presence, and provision. It forgets that God is writing a story that includes the trials we experience. This is why the Psalmist fights discouragement by interrogating his soul with reminders of the truth: “Why are you cast down, O my soul…hope in God!” (Psalm 42:5).
2. Talk to God
Discouragement is an invitation to go deeper into the heart of God as we entrust our deepest concerns to him. There is a strength from the Lord that only comes to those in the crucible of waiting (Isaiah 40:31), and there is a knowledge of the loving care of God that only comes to those who cast their concerns on him in prayer (1 Peter 5:6-7). Your discouragement is often the road to greater nearness to our Savior, who will uniquely strengthen us as we talk to him about our discouragements in prayer.
3. Talk with Friends
Paul dealt with serious discouragement in his ministry. He reports in 2 Corinthians 7:5-7 that he was “afflicted at every turn” and that he experienced “fighting without and fear within.” Isn’t that a perfect description of discouragement?
How did God help him? Verse 6 gives a beautiful answer: “But God, who comforts that downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” God brought a friend to Paul.
God uses close friends who know us, know our trials, and know our temptations to help us think about our discouragements soberly, truly, and biblically. Have you talked to a brother or sister in the local church about your discouragement? You could send a text message right now and say: “I’d love to talk to you about some things that have been discouraging me lately.”
4. Take a Nap
Elijah dealt with deep discouragement. He was fighting a godless culture in Israel, had to flee for his life, and now was alone under a tree. He asked God to take his life in his discouragement. He just couldn’t do it anymore.
How does God respond? An angel comes to him and says: “Arise and eat.” Elijah eats, drinks, and then takes a nap (1 Kings 19:7). We are told that after that, Elijah went “in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.”
Sometimes, we are discouraged because we are weary from long seasons of suffering and pressure, and we should respond by resting. Jesus did this with his disciples after busy seasons of ministry (Mark 6:31). Sometimes, when I am personally dealing with discouragement, my wife looks me right in the eye and says, “Spencer, go to bed!”
Friend, this discouragement won’t last forever. It isn’t too big or complicated for God. His Word provides clarity in the fog. It provides hope in the bottom of the pit. And it provides the promise of a companion who himself experienced all the pain and difficulties of this life without sinning (Hebrews 4:15).
Come, bring your discouragement to the Lord – and find rest.
Spencer Harmon is the Nocatee Campus Pastor. He is the co-author of three books: Letters to a Romantic: On Dating, Letters to a Romantic: On Marriage, and Letters to a Romantic: The First Years.
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