You know the feeling. Discouragement crashes into your life. Maybe serious illness has unexpectedly altered your way of living. 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 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 is in the 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.
Realize Others Have Faced It - You Can Too!
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.
