Don't Let Me Get Discouraged!

Sometimes the Christian life can seem like an uphill walk, but please don't let me get discouraged!  Have you ever felt like that?  Don't be ashamed to admit it, we are all human and we all stumble and sometimes fall flat on our face so to speak.  I have done it so many times and I am sure that I am not alone.  If you are one of us, please don't get discouraged.

There are so many good things in life to dwell upon and it is a good idea to make a list of those things and go over them every day or oftener if needed when you feel a wave of discouragement coming over you.

Whatever you do, don't be the cause of discouragement in another person's life.  Life is tough enough without being the cause of making another's life miserable.  Yesterday I spoke about encouraging others and I can tell you from experience that when as a child you get put down a lot, it sticks with you, it seems like forever, but of course we can break that cycle.

We are not alone in this battle of life and even in the Bible, some of the outstanding people had times of discouragement.  Discouragement is the depression of one's spirit, we feel down and life becomes hard to deal with at times and we can't think clearly and wonder what to do to help ourselves.  I have been there and I know the feeling.  That's when it is time for someone to step in and use some encouraging tactics to help us get up and get going again.  We can be one of those people if we are willing to be used of God in this way.
God will direct our words and actions if we are dwelling in His presence and will help us be an encouraging tool in someone else's life.

There are many causes for discouragement, some of them might be sickness that lingers on and on, then again it might be we failed at something that we thought was important, or we could be carrying a heavy burden that seems to weight us down.  That's when it is time to read Psalms 55:22  "cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved."

Another admonition from the Bible is in Mark 6:31  "And He said to them, 'Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.'"  That is always good advice when we are discouraged, just take time to spend with God and talk things over with Him, it helps so much, even if you don't see an answer right at the moment, an answer will come.

Are you discouraged this morning?  Try God's method of overcoming this spirit and if you know someone who is discouraged, try being the helper to lift his or her's discouragement and encourage them to cast their burden on the Lord and He will sustain them and maybe coming apart from the daily struggles to spend time with God and get things in order again.  It is so important to have God in our lives and it keeps us from going into a deeper pit and actually brings us up to a higher level of thinking and acting.  Why not try it if you haven't and see how much better you feel and then you can help someone else with the same problem.  I am trying to be an encouragement instead of discouragement to others and it works pretty good at keeping ourselves from being discouraged.  Try it you really might like it.  Grandma Joan