Dealing with Discouragement

Chuckle: "You know it's going to be a bad day when your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles."

Good Quote: "If the devil cannot make you puffed up by pride, he will try to dampen your spirit by discouragement. It's his best tool!" --Unknown source

"Now I am deeply discouraged, . . ." (Psalm 42:6 NLT).

Have circumstances caused you to feel discouraged and ready to throw in the towel and give up? You may have lost your job and the search for a new one may have been fruitless. Many of us get discouraged and depressed when things do not turn out the way we had planned or desired. Another translation of our passage says, "My soul is downcast within me."

The psalmist was in exile far away from his home in Jerusalem and could not worship His Lord in the Temple. He could not be home for the God-given holidays, when his people remembered all that God had done for them. He was lonely and feeling sorry for himself. He was discouraged.

As a professional soldier for many years, there were times when I was far away from home and family, and I sometimes found myself with a deep sense of discouragement and loneliness -- especially when I had to miss special times with my family like anniversaries, birthdays, and Christmas holidays. During those times I needed to turn my attention away from myself and toward God and to focus on His love, mercy, grace, and all that He had done for me. God has always been my anchor and gives me a deep sense of inner peace and contentment.

How does God help you when you are discouraged? He does so in many ways including these. First, He helps by always being with you. "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5b). Second, He helps by understanding what you are going through. Jesus said, "When the world hates you, remember it hated me before it hated you" (John 15:18). Third, He helps by comforting and strengthening you. "May our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, who loved us and in His special favor gave us everlasting comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and give you strength in every good thing you do and say" (1 Thessalonians 2:16-17).

Notice that the psalmist did not keep his feelings bottled up inside himself. No, he voiced his feelings to God and fellow worshipers. He was honest in describing his emotional state. I'm reminded of words from an old hymn: "Take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there." If you find yourself discouraged and downcast, take those feelings to your Lord who will lift you up and carry you through each circumstance. Also, find someone you love and trust with whom to share your burdens and be encouraged.