DISCOURAGEMENT

I Was Just Thinking About – DISCOURAGEMENT.

The issue is not IF I will ever become discouraged. The basic consideration is WHY and WHEN I am discouraged. An optimistic politician of two generations ago crystallized HOW and WHY defeat and  discouragement are realized. His political alternative to the threats and assassinations of his day was: “There are those who look at  things the way they are and ask why? I dream of things that never were and say, Why not?” He also wrote: “There are people in every time and every land who want to stop history in its tracks. They fear the future, mistrust the present, and invoke the security of a comfortable past which, in fact, never existed…Just because we cannot see clearly the end of the road, that is no reason for not setting out on the essential journey. On the contrary, great change dominates the world, and unless we move with change we will become its victims.”

Thinking about discouragement from a truly Biblical viewpoint, are there guidelines a genuine/authentic Christian must embrace, believe and implement in day by day living? 

The appropriate verses to begin with are:

Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and He WILL direct your paths…

Psalm 37:4-5,7 – Trust in the Lord…Commit your way to Him…Delight yourself in Him…Rest in the Lord…Wait patiently for Him (to act and guide)…

Isaiah 30:20-21 – And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction…your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk in it, when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.

Isaiah 41:10 – The Lord said: fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 

Second Corinthians 4:7-9, 17-18 - We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.  We are pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal glory that is far beyond comparison.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Some may quickly quote a portion of Romans 8:28 or Jeremiah 29:11, without carefully acknowledging the context.

Words of Hymns serve as good reminders of what genuine faith is in the true God. One of them expresses:

Why should I feel discouraged, 

Why should the shadows come,

Why should my heart be lonely, 

and long for Heaven and home,

When Jesus is my portion? 

My constant friend is He:

His eye is on the sparrow, 

and I know He watches me…

           Another is:

How desolate my life would be,

How dark and drear my nights and days,

If Jesus’ face I did not see 

To brighten all earth’s weary ways.

          Refrain:

I’m overshadowed by His mighty love,

Love eternal, changeless, pure…

He died to ransom me from sin, 

He lives to keep me day by day.

I’m overshadowed by His mighty love,

Love that brightens all my way.

As an authentic follower of Jesus Christ, daily maintain your commitment to Hebrews 12:2 – Keep on looking to Jesus, the Author and Completer of your faith.

Prayerfully – consider these things with me.