When You're Discouragedনমুনা

“I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!”

The devil loves to pressure us. It’s hard to keep believing when the pressure is intense, right? But, if you hear yourself saying, “I can’t take it anymore,” stop right there. That’s a devil thought! You can take it – and you can overcome! Here’s what the Bible says about you:

·Greater is He that’s in you than he that’s in the world (1 John 4:4)

·Jesus gave you authority over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19)

·God has not given you the spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7)

·You can be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10)

·You are more than a conqueror through Him who loves you (Romans 8:37)

These verses are the truth about you. The thought, “I can’t take it anymore,” makes you want to forget all that and run for cover, doesn’t it? So, don’t! Realize that the pressure and discouragement is just the devil trying to turn up the heat, but he’s already defeated (Colossians 2:15). He cranks up the pressure to scare you, so you’ll give up and quit. It’s the only way he can defeat you.

It reminds me of the story in Daniel chapter 3 about the three Hebrews boys thrown into the fiery furnace. They refused to bow down to anyone but God, so when they wouldn’t bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar’s statue, he had them thrown into a fiery furnace.

Verse 19 makes me laugh because King Nebuchadnezzar was so mad that he commanded the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. Wait – doesn’t fire always burn people up? What in the world difference does it make to heat it up seven times hotter? It was just the fear factor. It was a ploy to crank up the pressure and make them afraid so they’d quit believing God.

It turned out that the only thing the hotter fire did was kill the king’s own guards who threw them into the fire. God showed up for the 3 boys (literally!) and they emerged from that fire without even smelling like smoke! (v. 27)

And that’s how you can overcome your current trouble, too, when you keep believing and refuse to quit. Turn the tables on discouragement and pressure by meditating and speaking those scriptures above, and use the Word of God to come through the fire!