Dealing With DiscouragementНамуна

Importance of Hope

If we lose our hope, we lose our faith, and with nothing to look forward to, we are more inclined to relapse and turn back to negative habits.

Trusting in God is intentional, and believing in His promises is a conscious act we must practice every day, despite how we feel.

Emotions can be deceiving, and if we become fixated on measuring our feelings, pretty soon we will become overwhelmed with our circumstances and more vulnerable to caving into depression.

In Psalm 42, the descendants of Korah pose the question: “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?” At the beginning of this chapter, the psalmist states his soul is thirsty for the true living God as he watches their enemies taunt them. In the midst of their misery, he recalls the good old days when they led large processions of people to the house of the Lord to celebrate.

But now, they have fallen into one of the valleys of life, and the psalmist ponders out loud: “Why are you in despair, my soul? Why have you become restless and disturbed within me?”

Clearly, when difficulties come, discouragement follows. But the next few lines of the sons of Korah’s psalm gives us a blueprint to imitate when addressing our own valley seasons.

“I will put my hope in God. I will praise him again, my Savior and my God. Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you…”

It is clear that the psalmist acknowledged his disheartened state and the circumstances that caused his soul to grow dispirited. But once again, we see him urging himself to remain hopeful.