Untitled Sermon (10)

Dealing With Discouragement

I want to be vulnerable with you today.

This past week has been a very hard week for us.

Last Tuesday, we buried my dad.

I was extremely close to my dad, he was my role model, my best friend, my fishing buddy, my spiritual influence. He was a father that showed up and was intentional.

Losing him was really hard.

The day my dad passed, we got news that my niece and her husband and their 1-year-old daughter was t-boned by a truck that ran a red light and we were told that they feared that my niece had broken her neck.

Then Monday, 2 days ago, we took our dog to the vet, we found out a few weeks ago that she had mouth cancer and it was beginning to spread. So Monday, we had to make the decision to put her down. Me and Tracey cried, and it was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make.

But then, I zoomed out from the past week and began to look at the past 3 years.

In the past 3 years

-          My dad had a stroke

-          My wife was diagnosed with cancer

-          We buried my Uncle

-          We buried my Grammy

-          We buried several friends

-          We buried former TSM students

-          I totaled my wife’s car

-          I left TSM

-          I came back to TSM

-          I had stomach issues for months

-          I started breaking out in rashes all over my body

-          We buried my dad

-          My niece was in a wreck

-          We buried my dog

Not to mention the other things that pile on like our air conditioner breaking, our refrigerator breaking, our dryer breaking, our dishwasher breaking, my daughter breaking multiple bones the past 3 years and her getting a concussion. Strained relationships with family members. So on and so on.

Can I just be real with you?

I have found myself being overwhelmed and discouraged.

In just the past 3 years, me and my family have been through so much.

Now, this isn’t me trying to get sympathy. I’m not trying to compare my life and trials to anyone else’s trials.

I am just saying, Life has been tough.

Now, there have been some great moments too.

We have seen salvations, we have seen marriages restored, we have seen growth, we have seen people healed, my wife is in remission, we have seen relationships restored within our family, we have a beautiful home and food in the fridge. We have a lot to be thankful for.

But how many of you know that life can just be tough.

And when life gets tough, it’s easy to be discouraged.

Tonight, I want to speak to you about the topic of “Dealing with Discouragement.”

There’s a sermon story I heard, completely made up, but it makes a great point. It goes like this.

It was advertised that the Devil was putting up for sale all of his tools. On that date the tools were laid out. They had prices marked on them for public inspection, and there were a lot of treacherous instruments: hatred, envy, jealousy, deceit, pride, lying, and so on. Laid apart from the rest of the Devil's tools was a tool, but it was worn more than any of the others and was priced very high. "What's the name of this tool?" asked one of the customers.

"That," the Devil replied, "is discouragement."

"Why have you priced it so high?"

"Because discouragement is more useful to me than all the others. I can pry open and get inside a man's heart with that when I cannot get near him with any other tools. It's badly worn because I use it on almost everyone, since so few people know it belongs to me."

Discouragement is still the Devil's tool. Not many people realize he's using it on us, and he's using it on some of us today. Life is full of discouraging circumstances. Even the most blessed people, the most successful, the most spiritually mature, face constant disappointment and discouragement. The aim of my sharing this with you today is that you would honestly face the problems served up to you in life without fooling yourself, without giving up, but rather by acknowledging the problems and discouragement, by acknowledging our need for help, by getting help from others, and by trusting and obeying God in the midst of problems.

Matthew 26:30-35 30 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. 31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. 32 But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. 33 Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. 34 Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. 35 Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.

Jesus is telling his disciples that he “the shepherd”, will be killed and the flock will scatter.

In this moment he was predicting that his disciples would run and deny him.

But look at when Jesus tells them this news.

This is immediately after the Passover meal, after Jesus teaches them about his new covenant he is making with them.

After they ate together, it says they sung a hymn.

Which was customary to do after the Passover meal.

A hymn is simply a song of praise

In other words, immediately after they fellowshipped with Jesus, they then worshiped with Jesus,

Jesus tells them “There is something that’s about to happen that will cause you to flee.”

One thing I have learned is that you never see discouragement coming and discouragement is not a respecter of persons.

These men were the closest men to Jesus, they had just fellowshipped and worshipped together and Jesus is telling them that something is about to happen that will cause them to lose heart, to lose fight and to lose faith.

1.     Disconnect

Peter, like he does most of the time in the Scriptures, speaks up and says, “I will never deny you, I will die before I deny you.”

He never thought he could ever be that guy.

But then the night played out.

Jesus was betrayed by Judas. Was taken into custody, was taken to Caiaphas’ the high priest’s house, they held a corrupt court where they said he was guilty and worthy of death.

Matthew 26:69-75 69 Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. 70 But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. 71 And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. 72 And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. 73 And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech betrayeth thee. 74 Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. 75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

a.       Distance from Community

Here’s the first problem we see, is that Peter is alone.

I have seen it play out so many times before, before people ever take a step away from God, they take a step away from God’s people.

Peter is outside the house, sitting alone.

Peter has distanced himself from the other disciples.

When Peter needed the encouragement and the support of a spiritual community the most, we see him sitting alone with his thoughts.

-          I can see him contemplating all that’s going on.

-          How can the Son of God be taken into custody so easily

-          Why didn’t he fight back

-          Why didn’t he call down armies of angels

-          Why did He give in so quickly

-          Is He really who He says He is

These past few years for me and my family have been hard.

I’ve had to really depend on the Lord to get me through, and there have been times where I have been discouraged.

But one thing I did, is that I kept showing up.

While Tracey was battling cancer, I don’t think I missed more than 1 or 2 Sundays at church.

Why?

Because I needed to be surrounded by God’s people and in a place where I could experience God.

What normally happens to people of faith when life’s trials hit out of nowhere, is they want to immediately pull away from God’s people and God’s presence.

This is the strategy of the enemy.

1 Peter 5:8 says “our enemy, the devil, is like a roaring lion, prowling around, looking for someone to devour.”

Lions are opportunity hunters.

They go for the weak, the injured and the isolated.

When you are discouraged, fight the urge to isolate yourself. Instead, intentionally seek out community.

b.      Doubt God’s Plan

Here’s the second problem, Jesus had already told the disciples that he was going to die, he even told them how he was going to die.

But Peter doubted his plan.

-          Before there is ever a disconnect, there is doubt

When Peter denied Jesus and said “I don’t know that man.”

He was being truthful.

-          Peter’s faith was built on an image of who He Thought Jesus was.

-          Peter’s faith was built on an idea, but not reality.

-          Peter believed Jesus was going to overthrow the Romans, He was going to establish an earthly throne

-          But Jesus is meek and humble, he isn’t fighting back, he’s submissive

-          So when Peter said, “I don’t know that man” he is speaking what he feels at that moment.

Peter’s tone has changed.

The reality is, when things don’t go the way we think they should go, there will be a temptation to run from the faith, to deny our allegiance to Jesus, to disconnect ourselves from others.

When life doesn’t go the way we expect, we feel a disconnect – from our purpose, from our faith, even from God.

Because sometimes we have an expectation about how things should be, but our reality doesn’t match our expectation and it creates discouragement.

-          If God is good, then bad things shouldn’t happen

-          If God is real, why don’t I feel him right now

-          If God loves me, why did He let this happen

Peter’s expectation was that Jesus wasn’t going to die.

Peter’s expectation was that Jesus was going to lead them into an earthly victory

But when Peter’s expectations were contradicted by what was happening, he began to doubt, and his doubt led to discouragement and discouragement led him to disconnect.

You see, no one who starts strong in the faith ever thinks there will be a day they will leave the faith.

There are things that happen along the way that contradicts their view of God, which leads to discouragement, which ultimately leads to fully pulling away.

Just hours before Peter’s denial, he said he would “Die before he ever denied him.”

What changed?

Peter’s circumstances changed.

When he made that bold statement, “I will never deny you”, he made it after a worship service.

It’s easy to live for Jesus and speak boldly for Jesus and pursue Jesus when you’re at a church service.

Where your faith is really seen is when life hits you out of nowhere.

Disconnection often begins when we:

-          Distance ourselves from spiritual community

-          Doubt God’s plan

2.     Defeat

John 21:2-3 2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing

After Peter’s denial, rather stepping into his calling and purpose, he reverted back to his old life.

Another symptom of discouragement is just to give up. Defeat

a.     Retreat

a.      I’m going fishing

·         Peter was ashamed, he was embarrassed. He messed up so he goes fishing, but he is around his buddies and he just says out loud, “I’m going fishing.” So they all go to.

·         This is only a few days after Jesus died and then resurrected. There is so much work to do, so many things they should be doing, but Peter goes fishing.

·         Here is what I see, when people get discouraged, and they decide to leave the church, the ministry, the faith, the whatever, they never go alone. They always take someone with them.

o   Peter goes fishing, but he doesn’t go alone.

·         Peter checked out and went back to his old lifestyle…fishing.

Peter went back to what was familiar instead of stepping forward in faith

Defeat and discouragement makes us retreat. And when we retreat, we often take others with us.

Can I ask you, have you ever just wanted to escape and get out?

Have you ever just wanted to go back to what you are comfortable doing?

Just give up?

I’m sure some of you may have considered it.

You’re still attending, but you’re not abiding

You’re still singing, but you’re not soaring

You’re living, but you’re not thriving

You’re doing, but you’re not delighting.

There was a time where I had back to back churches that absolutely chewed me up and spit me out. I was tired, I was discouraged, I gave up. I wanted to do something else. So I went back to doing what I knew, installing security alarms. I made great money. I am good at it.

I still attended church, I didn’t leave the faith, but I left my calling.

Discouragement robbed me of my purpose.

 I knew I was not living my God given destiny.

Maybe you think, “well, I haven’t checked out, I still love and follow God.”

But you’re not as serious as you once were.

You are just doing the bare minimum.

God has called you to something greater, but you’re just doing what you’ve always done.

You are half-hearted.

You are showing up to church, but there’s no fruit in your life

You sing the same worship songs as everyone else, but you’re not experiencing worship like everyone else.

You are living a defeated life.

Here’s some sings you are living a defeated life.

-          You settle for less

o   Peter had walked on water…but now he’s walking back to his boat.

o   He had cast out demons, now he’s casting nets

o   That’s what defeat does, it convinces you that your best days are behind you.

o   You stop dreaming, you stop believing, you stop pursuing

-          You silence your gifts

o   Peter was a preacher, a leader, a voice for the early church

o   But defeat makes you quiet

o   Have you stopped using your gifts because of shame, regret, or fear of failure?

-          You spread your struggle

o   When Peter said, “I’m going fishing” others said, “we’ll go with you.”

o   Defeat is contagious.

o   That’s why the enemy loves to discourage you – because your discouragement doesn’t just affect you.

What’s the outcome of defeat?

John 21:3 They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing

-          Defeat is unproductive.

-          When you retreat to old ways, you believe it will satisfy you. It promises comfort, but produces emptiness.

Maybe your discouragement is self-induced, like Peter’s.

-          You made some bad decisions, you gave into temptation.

-          Now, you don’t feel worthy to be used.

-          You think, “Why would God use someone like me?”

-          You feel like the prodigal son that went and lived wild and crazy, and then when he came to himself, he wanted to go back to his father’s home, but didn’t feel worthy to be called a son anymore, so he thought that maybe his father would hire him as a servant.

-          In other words, because of his own actions, he felt so discouraged and unworthy, that he felt like he couldn’t hold the title of son anymore.

-          He wanted a lesser role.

I know several former pastors that went through hard things in churches, they got discouraged and become defeated and went back to working a normal 9-5 job.

I know several students that were absolutely on fire for God. They led FCA at their school, they led bible studies during lunch.

Then they graduate, life hits them hard and now they are out of church and out of the will of GOd

There are things that happen to us that are out of our control and there are things that are our own fault, but both can cause us to feel defeated.

Whether because of failure, fatigue or fear, discouragement can leave you living a defeated life.

3.     Decision

John 21:4-17 4 But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. 5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. 6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. 7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. 8 And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. 9 As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. 10 Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. 11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. 12 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. 13 Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. 14 This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep

The scene now changes.

Peter has been fishing.

He is living defeated and discouraged.

But while they are fishing, they see a man standing on the shore and he calls out to them, “Did yall catch anything.”

·         Jesus knew the answer. Jesus knows that when we go where we are not supposed to be, when we do what we are not supposed to do, we will never be satisfied.

·         God will let you catch nothing in your comfort zone so you’ll come back to your calling.

Jesus’ calling from the shore is a gentle confrontation – “How’s fishing working for you Peter?”

Peter is already discouraged, he feels unqualified to live out his calling, he goes back to his old job and he isn’t even doing any good at that.

-          Peter hasn’t found satisfaction in his old life.

But the man on the shore says, “cast on the other side.”

As soon as they do that, the net becomes so full of fish that they can’t even haul it in the boat.

It was at this moment, they realize, this isn’t just any man, this is Jesus.

Now, Peter has a choice, he can either stay in the boat, which represent discouragement and defeat, or he can jump out of the boat and go to Jesus, which represents his destiny.

This is the good news of the Gospel; Jesus is willing to meet us in our mess time after time.

On that beach, Jesus calls out to Peter, not with condemnation, but with compassion.

3 Aspects of Peter’s Decision

1. It was Immediate

- He doesn’t overthink it, he doesn’t say, “let me finish pulling in this net.”

- He jumps in

- Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do after failure and discouragement is make a fast move toward God

2. It was Inconvenient

- Peter puts on his outer garment and jumps in the sea.

- This doesn’t make sense practically, it would have slowed him down.

- But spiritually, Peter is symbolically covering his shame and he brings his mess to Jesus.

- He wasn’t being cute, he was desperate

- Real restoration often starts with an uncomfortable move.

- Coming back to Jesus doesn’t always look polished, but it’s powerful.

3. It was Intentional

- The same man that denied Jesus 3 times is now diving toward him with no guarantee of what will happen next.

- That’s the difference between guilt and grace

- Guilt keeps you in the boat, wondering if you’re still worthy

- Grace calls you to the shore, knowing that Jesus is still willing

Peter makes it to the beach and Jesus doesn’t dismiss Peter. He dines with him.

This is Jesus ministering to Peter in a physical way.

He is showing care and concern.

But then he Deals with peter.

Jesus asks him, “Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me?”

Three times he asks Peter this question.

Three times Peter responds “you know I love you.”

Three times Jesus says, “Feed my sheep.”

What is Jesus doing?

He is restoring Peter.

Peter is still feeling the weight of his denial. He is still feeling the conviction. He is still discouraged that he let his Lord down.

So, Jesus takes a moment to minister to his heart.

I don’t know where you are today?

Maybe you feel discouraged.

Maybe you feel unworthy.

Maybe you feel defeated.

Wherever you are, you have a decision.

Do you stay in the boat, or you do you dive in.