On Discouragement

Discouragement is the lack of confidence, the lack of hope and lowness in spirit.

I get discouraged and so do you! Sometimes discouragement is appropriate and sometimes it's not. I'm discouraged at the condition of the world. It's a sick place destined for self-destruction. However, that discouragement is also my hope!

My "hope" is that the promise of God will be fulfilled. I have hope because I have confidence in what God says. For awhile I'll be low in spirit, but looking at the finish line, when it gets closer, I'll have joy. Right now the second advent of Christ seems afar, but, as he says "Behold, I come quickly!" (Revelation 22:7). Yet I may not live to see Jesus come back! In the meantime, I sometimes put my hope aside and dwell in self-absorption.

I desire things to go my way. They often don't. I prefer that people would interact with me the way I desire interaction. It would be great if no one thought ill of me, but they do. I prefer to never argue yet I somehow get lured into arguments. I have standards for my family which they may disagree with, even oppose. I'm imperfect and make mistakes. Some who I wish to love me don't! You get the idea... I want the world to revolve around me, yet it doesn't. I get discouraged because things don't always go my way. I get distraught when I'm not loved. I get stressed when someone minimizes me by being short-tempered in communicating with me. I get upset with myself when I let others discourage me!

Did you notice the focus in the above paragraph? It's on "me" and "I", my favorite idols. Your idols are your "I" and your "me". You have idols too. "Need theory" says that your hunger and thirst must be satisfied, you have a need for friendship, you have need of love and acknowledgement and you have needs for confidence in yourself.  Our lives are devoted to satisfying those needs and then having pleasure on top of that! 

If our needs are not being met and we have little pleasure in life, we get discouraged. With all the effort focused on "I" and "Me" there is little time to focus on Jesus and what he did for us. Our quest for satisfaction in life is the road most taken and the path to destruction. We will fail! We will be disappointed with our lives and become discouraged. Our spirits become low. Joy is not there and our confidence is shaken. Discouragement will kill because it causes anxiety!  We're uneasy about our life, our health, our love and our eternal destiny. Here's the solution to the destination:

1 Peter 5:7 (ESV) "Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you."

Jesus is there for us. The things of this world are insignificant and will soon be history. We may be poor, we may have ill health, we may have loved ones die, we may have the ones we love spurn us; but all the while Jesus "cares for you" and that's what counts! He is our hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV) "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Yes, we get discouraged. Things may not go well here, but God has plans for each of us. His plan is our future which he gives to us and with a future there is hope! With hope comes peace and as thanks for the promise, we have joy. Joy obliterates discouragement!

The KJV says it best and is the most familiar:

Matthew 11:28 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

"Heavy laden" are those discouraged. It's a burden to exist. Our trials and tribulations are hard labors and toil will wear us out. If we come to Jesus he says "I will give you rest"! 

How do you come unto Jesus? You believe in Him and have faith that he will do what he promises. He will provide peace and relieve our load. He will make life worth the living!

With that said, will you be loved, consoled, and in agreement with others. Likely not, but it does improve things. If you focus on the Lord yourself, it makes you more lovable at the same time! Will you still have to worry about bills and meeting your needs. Yes. That's  life. That's the penalty we pay because of our forebears. However, God does provide for those who turn to him and  he will ease your burden.

Will the Lord improve your family? He sure can, but to do that we each must take the focus off "self" and put the spotlight on Christ and others. The command is to love God and others. There is no command to love ourselves although God through mercy does allow us to love ourselves enough to care! "Apathetic Christian" is an oxymoron. It cannot be!

I wish I could force others to love me. I wish those who loved me would be in greater unity. I wish those who love me loved me more. I cherish harmony and peace with those who are close to me. It may happen and it may not, but my hope is not in others; it's in Christ. Someday that peace I desire will be there! It's there, not only for me, but for anyone who truly turns to God!

James 4:9 "Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."