Winning the WarSýnishorn

Winning the Over Discouragement

Rarely, if ever, will you find a person who has never been discouraged. Even the most blessed, successful, spiritually mature people, face constant disappointment and discouragement. 

• Job felt discouraged with his wife and friends. 

• Elijah became discouraged by life’s circumstances. 

• Jeremiah felt angry and discouraged with God when he believed God was against him.

• Peter felt discouraged with himself when he realized that he was not as courageous as he thought he was. 

Discouragement has the potential to dominate one’s life if left unchecked. Furthermore, mishandled discouragement may eventually lead to depression. Unhandled depression may lead to despair and untreated despair makes death look attractive. Discouragement has a tendency to linger around until you break it. 

According to Napoleon Hill, “What most of us never see is the silent but irresistible power which comes to the rescue of those who fight on in the face of discouragement.” 

In the text, the spies did not give Moses a negative report, they simply gave a bad report that misrepresented the challenges ahead. They focused on the obstacles.  Obstacles are those frighting things you see when you take your eyes off the assignment. When you do that, fear will eclipse your faith. 

The spies chose discouragement. Caleb had seen the same thing the other spies had seen. He saw the giants, fortified cities, and powerful armies. Yet his response was completely different than his colleagues. It is amazing how people can look at the same data, be confronted with the same facts, experience the same events, and draw totally different conclusions. Discouragement is a choice. God never causes us to become discouraged. He may allow circumstances that are difficult, but His goal is always for our good and for His glory. And while God is not responsible for the things that cause discouragement, He is the provider of all that cures discouragement. 

If God has given you an assignment, your enemy is not going to lay down and play dead. 

If God has placed something in your spirit, please know that your flesh will fight it. 

If God has made you a promise, rest assured that there is opposition to it and challenges that must be confronted.

God has also assigned somebody to your life to encourage you, to push you, to reassure you, to stand by you, to remind you that God is with you, and to make sure you know that you are well able.

• That person will see the giants and will constantly remind you that the God you serve is greater than the giants you see.

• That person will be a constant reminder that God did not bring you this far to abandon you at this point in your life. 

To win this war over discouragement, keep moving, be steadfast and unmovable. Keep your eyes on the assignment and your trust in God.  

We hope this plan on winning the war over discouragement has encouraged you to let go of discouragement and build confidence in God. Explore other resources from Bishop Neil C. Ellis