Restart: Stepping Out in FaithSample

DON’T GIVE IN TO DISCOURAGEMENT It’s hard to keep your spirits up when you’re tired and feeling beaten down. It’s even harder when there are death threats swirling above your head. Look carefully at this cameo. The people who were recently filled with enthusiasm about rebuilding the wall are now singing a dirge—a mournful song indicating that not only has the tedium and laboriousness of the work taken its toll, but also that the mind games the enemy has been playing are working. Is it any different today? Discouragement can quickly soak up oases of enthusiasm leaving us in a desert of despair. But wait! We serve a God of hope. We have God’s Word on it. “I will bless you with a future filled with hope—a future of success, not of suffering” (Jeremiah 29.11, CEV). Hold on. Hold out. Don’t give up. Don’t give in to discouragement. Success is up ahead. In some countries work songs were used to motivate workers and help them pass the time. What methods do you use to break away from seasons of discouragement? Can you think of promises God has given us that would break the stronghold of discouragement? Pray for church and community leaders who are running into brick walls while trying to help those who are marginalized. Ask God to keep them from becoming discouraged. Pray: Lord, let my response to disappointment and rejection be one of complete trust in the promise and plans you have carefully laid out for my future.