Turning Lemons into Lemonade – Getting through Life’s Obstacles

Discouragement

If you define discouragement, it is "the act of making something less likely to happen or making people less likely to do something. A feeling of having lost hope or confidence."

Discouragement comes on by things not happening the way we think they should. We can get ideas of the way we want situations to play out. If we see that things aren't working out according to our plans, we start getting antsy and aggravated. We begin to lose hope and get discouraged. This happens in our daily lives and our spiritual lives.

A daily life example would be: We plan on making a special purchase with some extra money that we’ve saved. We then get in an accident or have an unexpected expense come up and have to use that money. You might get discouraged because you feel that the break you needed is never going to come.

A spiritual life example would be: You practice a song, prepare a lesson, or do something for someone and get no appreciation or people don’t respond how you expected. This leads to discouragement. Especially if it took a leap of faith to do the act to begin with. Preachers and teachers get discouraged when they spend so much time in preparation and prayer and see no results.

Discouragement comes when people let us down. Maybe we have a friend that we trusted and they betray us. Or maybe you had hopes for someone whose actions let you down. Discouragement will come over a church when a Christian turns their back on the church. Paul got discouraged when his friend Demas left him. In 2 Timothy 4:10, Paul says “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessolanica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.”

We can also get discouraged with God. People become bitter and hate-filled toward God because they feel that God has forsaken them. Discouragement leads to distance.

Discouragement is mentioned in the Bible many times.

Moses got discouraged: In Exodus, it gives the account of Moses and the Israelites. What did Pharaoh do to the Israelites? He took them captive. Moses talked to Pharaoh time and time again, getting the same answer each time. Moses went to God for advices and he told him to continue talking to Pharaoh. In Exodus 9:1, this was the 5th time that Moses asked Pharaoh to let his people go. Would you have continued to ask for freedom? Moses got discouraged, but he remained obedient and never gave up. He kept his trust in God.

Hannah got discouraged: Hannah was married to a man named Elkanah. He had another wife named Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. This was the source of her discouragement. The Bible says in 1 Samuel 1:5 “but the Lord had closed her womb.” Her husband was very supportive. In verses 4 and 5 of the same chapter it tells of Elkanah’s sacrifice and how he gave Hannah a double portion. In verse 8 he asks her why she didn’t eat. He asks “Am I not more to you than ten sons?” While Elkanah was encouraging, Peninnah wasn’t. She provoked Hannah constantly, rubbing it in her face. Hannah overcame her discouragement in verse 10. She did this by prayer. She prayed in front of Eli, the priest. She prayed silently, moving her mouth. Eli thought she was drunk. In verse 17 Eli told her to go in peace. Hannah praised God, then received her promise. She had a son named Samuel and she promised God that no razor would come upon his head. This meant that he would be raised as a Nazarite. This was a strict lifestyle that a family would choose or observe for their child. Jesus, Samson, and John the Baptist were the others mentioned that were raised this way. Hannah’s discouragement caused her to suffer both mentally and physically. She overcame by prayer and praise to God.

Nehemiah got discouraged. In chapter 4 of Nehemiah, he had two people that opposed him and his work. Sanballat and Tobiah. Sanballat was the governor of Samaria, just north of Jerusalem. They mocked the Jews calling them feeble. Legally, Nehemiah and the Jews could build in their location and these two men couldn’t stop them. For this reason, they tried to get to them mentally, causing discouragement and doubt in their abilities. Nehemiah prayed to God instead of taking matters into his own hands. After the two men saw that their comments made no difference in the morale of the Jews, they sent threats of a physical attack. This just caused the people to work in shifts – some worked and some sat watch. They did this until the wall was completed and this took fifty-two days. Nehemiah overcame his struggle with prayer.

Elijah got discouraged. Elijah had just come out of two great spiritual victories. He had defeated the prophets of Baal and his prayer for rain had been answered. Elijah had gone on the run from Jezebel and wanted to die. He actually sat down under a juniper tree and prayed for God to take his life (I Kings 19:3). He had gotten discouraged because he was expecting a different response from the people. He was looking for a real turnaround in the kingdom. Elijah came out of his rut using prayer.

Jeremiah got discouraged. Jeremiah is known as “the weeping prophet”. He ministered for forty years to the people of Judah, with not one single recorded convert. People mocked him and ridiculed him. He cried over the state of the people. It was a true burden to him. In Jeremiah 20:14-18 he explains his account of a time of extreme discouragement. He regretted the day he was born. Jeremiah proved that you could be discouraged and still be obedient to God.

“Discouragement is such a powerful weapon because it is somewhat the opposite of faith. Where faith believes God, his love, and his promises, discouragement looks for and believes the worst – and tends to pretty much forget about who God is and what he has promised to do.” –David Guzik

How do we overcome discouragement? Well, we do just as the prophets and saints in the Bible did. With prayer and dedication. We need to do the following things:

 Encounter his word: When we are discouraged, the thing that will refresh us most is to hear God speaking to us in our circumstances through his word. In order to "encoutner" God's word, you must be around it. If you never open the Bible or sit under preaching, you can't get to what you need. The "Bible at Random" method doesn't work. Expose yourself to his word. It will confront your sins, confirm his grace, reorient priorities, and show us how to live in a way that is pleasing to Him.

 Get back to work for the Lord: Discouragement led to the procrastination of the building of the temple for sixteen years. God can use anyone, and will use anyone as long as they are willing to work. Sometimes we become too self-focused. We say "I have been faithful, but everyone else is slack" - kind of like Elijah. We need to continue our ministries even if others falter. Do you have a ministry to work for? If so, what is it?

 Persevere in teh face of opposition: Nehemiah, Moses, Hannah, and Jeremiah were all faced with opposition. Instead of getting mad and solving the problem themselves, the prayed to God first. We should be a strong witness of our faith in Jesus. We know that others are watching us, it should give us more strength to be bold. We will be stronger if we know Satan is always on the attack. We need to be ready and be consistent.