The Disease of Discouragement
2 Corinthians 2:11
11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
1 Peter 5:8
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Discouragement is one of the greatest weapons of our adversary. We must be aware of it and we must guard against it. The spiritual enemy of our souls is always looking to steal, kill, and destroy, and discouragement is one of his go-to devices.
I am including another direct quote from Ray Johnston’s book “The Hope Quotient” in today’s devotion:
“A huge life principle I have learned the hard way is that
discouragement precedes destruction. I cannot find anything that has been destroyed without discouragement being the underlying cause.
No person has ever come up to me and said, “I’m so encouraged about my marriage, I’m getting a divorce.” No one has ever come up to me and said, “I am so encouraged about school, I’m dropping out.” No teenager has ever come up to me and said, “I’m so encouraged about what my faith means to me, I’m going to start drinking and taking drugs.”
Discouragement devastates, and absolute discouragement devastates absolutely. In the absence of hope, discouragement rules. You won’t find a more ruthless, negative, destructive, vicious dictator anywhere on the planet.”
For the remainder of the devotion, we will examine 5 characteristics of discouragement that are listed in Johnston’s book.
1. Discouragement is a universal disease. We all get it.
Discouragement is not something any of us are unfamiliar with. We have all experienced the debilitating disease of discouragement. Some of us may have experienced weak strains of it and it only effected us for a few days, while others have dealt with its distressing symptoms for weeks, months, or years.
Thankfully, just as the disease is universal, so is the cure.
1 Samuel 30:6
6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
As David and his men returned home from battle, they found their home (Ziklag) in ruins, their possessions burned, and their wives and children gone. They were devastated.
In addition to his personal loss, David had to deal with his men blaming him for their calamity. Needless to say, he was having a bad day. Just as the wild fire had leapt from house to house and consumed them, discouragement was spreading from heart to heart, destroying their hopes and dreams.
In this moment, David could have given up. David could have retreated to a solitary place and fallen on his sword. It wouldn’t have been hard to understand his actions. But instead, David turned to the Lord. David encouraged himself in the Lord, received divine direction, pursued the enemy, and he and his men recovered all the enemy had taken…and then some.
In our moments of discouragement, we need to learn to encourage ourselves in the Lord.
Psalm 61:1-3 (especially verse 2)
1 Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
2. Discouragement is a repeating disease. We will catch it more than once.
Unfortunately victory over discouragement is not everlasting. It will be in heaven, but as long as we are on this side of heaven, we will face things that can bring discouragement.
Don’t be discouraged when you feel discouraged again. See what I did there?
It will happen to all of us. The beauty of it is, we have overcome it before, and through Christ, we will overcome it again. Overcoming discouragement is not permanent, but neither is our struggle with discouragement. You can be encouraged one moment and discouraged the next. Keep your head up. You will be encouraged again.
David found himself in the predicament of discouragement many times and learned to converse with his soul.
Psalm 43:5
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
If you are discouraged today, encourage yourself in the Lord. Remind your soul that God loves you and He is for you. He will cause you to triumph as you trust in Him.
3. Discouragement is a contagious disease. You can catch it from discouraging people.
Booker T Washington said, “Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone then in bad company.”
Proverbs 12:26
26 The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
Proverbs 13:20
20 Walk with the wise and become wise;associate with fools and get in trouble.
The people we choose to spend time with will go a long way in determining whether we are encouraged or discouraged. Some people are encouragers, and some are discouragers.
I am not saying we cannot try to love and influence those who struggle with negativity or discouragement, but we need to be wise about our exposure to their illness. Doctors and nurses work with the sick all day long, but they are wise about how they interact with them. Additionally, it is important to discern when someone has a desire to change, and when someone is content with a lifestyle of discouragement.
On the positive side, just as discouragement is contagious, encouragement is contagious.
Acts 4:36
And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,
Joses was renamed by the apostles because he was such an encourager. They named him Barnabas, which means consolation, exhortation, rest. An encourager is a person who is refreshing to be around. I believe God chose Barnabas to mentor Paul after his conversion because Paul was going to need a lot of encouragement to overcome his past failures in persecuting the church. Without Barnabas, Paul’s ministry would not have been nearly as effective, if he would have had a ministry at all. You never know the impact your encouragement can have in a person’s life. Be Christ-like, be an encourager today.
4. Discouragement is always circumstantial. It always has a cause.
There is a humorous story cited in Johnston’s book under this section. It appeared in the editorial column o the New York Times Magazine. The abbreviated version is as follows.
A crew, in the Sea of Japan, was shipwrecked and then jailed for their explanation. When questioned by authorities, the crew members each gave the same story – a cow fell out of the sky, landed on their ship, punched a hole in the deck, and ultimately sunk the vessel. Thinking they must be lying, the authorities placed them in jail.
After several weeks, the Russian Air Force called. They explained how a crew member on one of their cargo planes had stolen a cow and hastily put it on board the aircraft, planning to take it back home from Siberia. While in flight, the cow began thrashing around, causing the crew to fear they might be unable to safely land the plane. Their solution; quickly unload the cow at an altitude of 30,000 feet over the Sea of Japan.
Now that the authorities knew the sunken ship’s crew members were telling the truth, they released them from jail.
Whether the story is true or not, it is a great illustration. Sometimes discouraging circumstances seem to drop out of nowhere.
No matter how careful we are, unexpected things happen. You cannot plan for the unexpected. Therefore, we can become discouraged because we are unable to figure out a solution.
David and his men did not expect to find Ziklag in ruins when they returned home. They expected to be greeted with hugs and kisses from their families. Great despair came when their circumstances changed drastically and unexpectedly.
David understood this was not a surprise to God, and although David had not prepared for this, God had a solution. He always does.
Elijah went from amazing victory on Mt. Carmel to a deep state of depression, wishing he had never been born, in a matter of a few hours. The Lord did not ignore Elijah’s situation. He sent an angel to minister to him.
When you find yourself in discouraging circumstances, turn to the Lord. He will strengthen you.
5. Discouragement is deadly. It Kills.
We must not take discouragement lightly. It is not a foe to be handled with kid gloves. We must rigorously fight it with prayer and hiding God’s word in our hearts.
God is not willing that any would perish. He wants all of us to be saved, not only eternally, but from each bout with discouragement. God wants us to live with an abounding hope.
This doesn’t mean our lives will be perfect, but it means that God wants us to face every difficulty with the hope that we will ultimately prevail through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion:
In the following days, we will use the seven factors Ray Johnston includes in his book as a framework for increasing our Hope Quotient – our capacity to hope.
Prayer:
Jesus, you are our provider today. We receive your provision of hope. Despite our current struggles or circumstances, we choose to encourage ourselves in You. We know our situations are not hopeless. As long as we keep you at the center of our lives, no weapon formed against us will prosper. We surrender fully to You today. We trust in You today. We hope in You today. We are thankful that You are the God of hope, and that as we trust you, You are filling us with all joy and peace in believing, and that we will continue to abound in hope, not in our human effort, but through the power of the Holy Ghost according to Romans 15:13. Thank You for infusing us with hope today!