Discouragement

Today, for some reason, I’m thinking about disappointment and discouragement. It’s odd that I would be thinking so much about that, because I don’t really think I’m discouraged. Maybe there’s a new level of discouragement in my life though. (Or maybe it’s just denial!) At any rate, I want to understand discouragement and what I should do with it.

Jesus said in John 16:33, “In this world you will have troubles.” He was certainly right about that too! But in the same instance, He also said, “But take courage.” He was telling us not to allow our troubles to discourage us. Why would He say such a thing? After all, we are human and discouragement is a natural phenomenon in the face of those troubles Jesus was telling us about.

Dangers of Discouragement
The disciples … were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish authorities. - John 20:19

Discouragement can keep us from living the life we were meant to live. This is the most obvious one for me. The disciples were discouraged --- and so, hidden behind locked doors, they were not out doing what Jesus had called them to do. I do that in my life sometimes. I get discouraged, and before you know it, I’m NOT out doing what Jesus calls me to do.

In fact, discouragement can lead me to sin. Instead of doing what I’m called by Christ to do, I may be doing something I am not supposed to do. I might, for example, eat doughnuts or cookies, or drink too much wine to comfort myself. I might reach for some other vice. Even without specific vices, I might gossip, judge the source of my discouragement or commit some other less obvious sin. So discouragement is dangerous.

What To Do With Discouragement?
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Father of all mercies and the Father of all comfort who comforts us in our afflictions so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort that we ourselves have been given by God. – 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Now this verse is a mouthful! You first read it and just feel like a wave passed over you that you totally did not get. What does it mean? Well Paul is telling us that God will comfort us when we are discouraged, but that comforting is a chain that we become part of. We are then to take that Godly comfort and pass it on to someone else who needs to be comforted.

So what can I do with discouragement? I can learn from my discouragement to grow spiritually by being honest about my situation. Listen to what these Scriptures say about the dilemma with discouragement:

Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts. - Proverbs 4:23
As a man thinks within himself, so he is. - Proverbs 23:7
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. - Romans 12:2
Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. - Matthew 26:41
Do not give the devil a foothold. - Ephesians 4:27

I can grow or I can shrink. But if I don’t choose, the damage is inevitable. So if I don’t become purposeful about doing something positive with my discouragement, it will naturally have an effect on my life.

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. - Hebrews 4:15-16

Instead of wallowing in self-pity, nurturing my frustration, anger or even bitterness and resentment, I must tell God my troubles. He knows all about our troubles. There is a song that says, "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen," but there actually is Somebody who knows. And our fellow sufferer (Jesus) still retains a fellow feeling for our pains and still remembers in the skies His tears, His agonies and cries. But though He is there in heaven, He hasn't forgotten us, and He hasn't forgotten the nails in His hands, the tears, the agonies and cries.

He knows everything about me. He knows! Moreover, He wants to hear our discouragements as much as anything else. Jesus wants my pain expressed to Him on a regular basis. So as often as I have pain, frustration, discouragement or suffering --- that’s how often I need to turn to Christ with it.

I think it was A. W. Tozer, in his book, The Attributes of God, who said then, “With boldness, therefore, at the throne let us make all our sorrows known and ask the aid of heavenly power to help us in the evil hour.” In the evil hour. Yes, that’s where I experience my discouragement. So let me sashay directly to the throne of my Father in that same hour and give Him my discouragement, frustration, fear, pain, etc.

If you’re like me, you like to boil theology down to simple points that can be practically applied in my life. In other words, I want actions that I can take. So here’s what I think the action items for fighting discouragement must be.

Intentional Rest: God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day He rested from his work of creation. - Genesis 2:1-3. I need to be intentional about rest. It’s a precious commodity and I need to be as intentional about it as I am anything else in my life.

Encouraging Others: Hebrews tells us the importance of encouraging each other. But I think it’s almost a mandate to be selfish --- because we get most of the benefits when we encourage others! In fact, Hebrews 10:24 tells us we should “think of ways to encourage one another.” So I’m not just supposed to wait until you’re discouraged to encourage you. I should be proactive about encouraging you. How many of us do that?

Pray for the Source: Jesus told us, in Matthew 5:43-44, to “love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you!” I need to pray for whoever or whatever is the source of my discouragement. Invariably, when I am discouraged, disappointed, hurting or just sad, there are people involved. Inanimate objects, like a chair, have never disappointed me. The people who built the chair might disappoint me though. At any rate, I need to figure out who it is that’s involved in my disappointment and pray for them.

Focus on Christ: 2 Corinthians says that “… we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.” Before that, it says, “Therefore we do not lose heart.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17). The disappointment and frustration I feel are caused by the things that are seen in life. I need to fix my focus on the things that are not seen, Jesus Christ and His Kingdom of which I am an heir.

Wow! Thinking through of all this, how could I be discouraged? Only if I miss the point. So, "Lord, thank you for this time of understanding encouragement and discouragement. In ministry it is often hard to suffer alone and it often seems that we have no one with whom we can openly share. Thank You for knowing that, Lord. And thank You for being there for me. Let me find hope in others and use me to be hope for others. Amen."