In Courage

Do you ever feel discouraged? I am sure you have from time to time. We all face discouragement. This coming Sunday I will be talking about overcoming discouragement, but I wanted to give you a little preview with my weekly email.

When overcoming discouragement, it is important to understand what discouragement is. Discouragement is birthed out of doubt. It happens when we doubt our ability or when we doubt an outcome. Discouragement comes when we convince ourselves we don’t have what it takes to effect the change that is needed. Discouragement happens when we have a certain vision of the future and we become convinced it is impossible to get there from where we are.

Have you ever noticed that both the words “encouragement” and “discouragement” are rooted in the word? It’s about courage! “Discouragement” is about a lack of courage while “encouragement” is about moving in courage.

The truth is the greater the opportunity there is for discouragement, the greater the opportunity will be for us to show courage. We can be sure that with any vision we have from God – anything worth doing – we will face plenty of opportunities to become discouraged but at the same time we will have plenty of opportunity to move in courage.

Jesus has come to immunize his followers against discouragement. No matter what the circumstance we can be encouraged and move in courage because we know we have Jesus on our side and the outcome has already been decided.

On Sunday, I will share several ways to fight discouragement and to move that in courage. One of the ways I will share with you now. It is to focus on God and not upon our circumstances.

If you are feeling discouraged, praise God. Yes. You heard me right. Praise God. That might seem a bit backwards. You might be saying, “if I am discouraged, why would I praise God?” But it is about our focus.

If I am discouraged, where is my focus? — On my circumstances and lack of ability.

If I am praising God, where is my focus? — My focus is on God.

Discouragement comes from looking down. Encouragement comes from looking up.

You say, well I don’t really feel like praising God.

Here is the deal. You were created to praise. You were created for worship. The question is not if you will praise and worship, the question is what you will praise and worship.

If you don’t give your praise to God, you will be giving your praise to something or someone else. Praise is about declaring God worthy. It is about declaring him able. It is about declaring him King of kings and Lord of lords. It asserts that he has dominion over all things.

When you wallow in discouragement you are declaring that whatever it is holding you down holds dominion, authority, and power over you that is greater than God’s dominion, authority, and power.

So praise God! When you start to praise Him, the Holy Spirit will start to take over. He will create within you a clean heart and a right spirit. He will plant within you the fruit of the spirit which include peace and joy.

As the prophet Isaiah declares, ‘The Spirit of God will give you a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.’ (Isaiah 61:3)

On Sunday, I will share a bit more about this topic with additional insight from God’s Word on how to overcome discouragement. It will also be Teacher Appreciation Sunday. So come help us show our thankfulness to the teachers of our Lord of Life Preschool and to the teachers of our community as well.

Last but not least, if you have not yet taken the transformational church survey. Please do so as soon as possible. You can find the info and the link on the Lord of LIfe Church website. Have a great week!