Say No to Discouragement

Psalm 42:5

Psalm 42:5

The New International Version (1984) Psalm 42

5Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and 6 my God.

Say No to Discouragement

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” -Psalm 42:5

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and 6 my God.

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God” (Ps. 42:5).

Introduction

I will never forget my journey to becoming a Navy Chaplain.

In hindsight, it was a blessing.

But in the moment it was a humbling, frustrating, challenging, disappointing and discouraging process.

The process took over three years

It carried me down a path of soul crushing defeats

Exhilirating ministry opportunities

A great many hours of honest self assessment

The details:

When God called me into ministry I did not think I would be a Chaplain. My heartbeat was to serve as an international missionary (live abroad).

But I was serving in the Air Force- And I got saved because of the faithfulness of my buddy Mark, who was serving along with me.

So as I prepared to graduate seminary God began reshaping my call.

The thought was, “how fantastic would it be to serve my God and to serve my country”?

Chaplain Bellair, Chief Jung and Navy CARE Board story

Through the process of non-selection I was forced to deal with discouragement and I would probably go so far as to say disappointment and even a little depression.

Looking back at the experience I think God wanted to teach me something critical-

-He wanted me to know that the ONLY reason I would have this opportunity was NOT because of ME but because of Him and Him ALONE.

It truly awakened and reminded me of my DAILY NEED of HIM.

I know that today, everyone is dealing with their own levels of discouragement

And I want to share with you How You Can Say “No” to Discouragement

I want to share with you:

Four ‘R’’s-

1.Return to the Lord

2. Radiate for the Lord

3. Rely on the Lord

4. Rejoice in the Lord

that you can use in your daily life to combat discouragement, disappointment and even depression.

PRAY

I. Return to the Lord

“Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts” (Mal. 3:7).

A. When discouraged, many Christians drift away from the Lord (interesting that we do not typically run away from God but just slowly drift),

-Neglecting prayer

-Neglecting God’s Word

- Neglecting church attendance.

Prayer- Daily prayer is vital in the life of a Christian

What is prayer? It is communication with God- there should be a component of talking AND listening

Have you ever had a friend who just talks, talks, talks and you never get a word in edgewise?

Sometimes, that how we approach God.

And if you struggle with daily prayer here is my suggestion- 2 Minutes

The very first 2 minutes of your day (120 seconds) give it to God.

EVERYBODY has at least 2 minutes.

Do that faithfully for a full week, and then the next week- 3 Minutes

God’s Word- Read the Bible in a year plan

Church Attendance- Find a Bible believing church that preaches God’s Word.

Ask “what can I bring to this fellowship” instead of “what do they have for me?”

-God’s Word admonishes,

-God’s Word admonishes,

“8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:8).

Question: Why do we wash our hands?

Answer: To kill germs and bacteria that will invade your body and make you sick

Sin is like a virus, it will invade your body, make you sick and in fact, YOUR sin can infect others and cause THEM problems.

Returning to God is like washing your hands- His presence in your life is cleansing

Physically,

Mentally

Emotionally

Spiritually.

Say No to discouragement.

Return unto the Lord:

Revive your prayer life

Spend time reading and thinking about God’s Word meditation.

Restore your church attendance and support.

TRANSITION: ‘R’ #2

II. Radiate for the Lord

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works” (Matt. 5:16).

A. Radiate means “to give forth or spread happiness, love”—Webster.

A rain cloud does not “radiate”.- rain clouds obscure the view i.e. San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge in the morning at seminary.

One of the more challenging aspects of living in Chicago is the relatively low amounts of sunshine we get.

My wife and family came from Denver where we got 245 sunny days per year.

Chicago gets about 150 sunny days per year.

Radiating-

The Sun is at an average distance of about 93,000,000 miles (150 million kilometers) away from Earth. It is so far away that light from the Sun, traveling at a speed of 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers) per second, takes about 8 minutes to reach us.

When discouragement strikes, some Christians become rain clouds and their behavior obscures the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

They spread gloom and doom.

They see only the bad in others, the church, and in circumstances.

Say “No to discouragement”

Radiate positives. Look for the good, not the bad.

C. Say no to discouragement. Replace negatives with positives. Look for the good, not the bad.

“Let your light shine before all men”

TRANSITION: ‘R’ #3

III. Rely on the Lord

The New International Version (1984) Psalm 37

5Commit your way to the LORD;

trust in him and he will do this:

“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass” (Ps. 37:5).

trust in him and he will do this:

“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass” (Ps. 37:5).

Commitment & Trust

It seems like these two words ought to be synonomous

Definitions:

Commitment- the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc.

Trust-firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

In order to RELY on the Lord we must both

Commit our way to Him (be dedicated to His way-not ours)

AND

Trust Him (Holding a firm belief)

We can be committed to someone (i.e. a relationship, a boss, a workout partner) but not trust them.

A. Some Christians rely on temporal possessions more than on God. Others rely too much on people. They come to disappointment.

To Rely on the Lord means being committed and trusting

Some Christians rely on temporal possessions more than on God.

Others rely too much on people.

They will eventually come to being disappointed.

“It is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works,” said the psalmist (Ps. 73:28).

Say no to discouragement.

Rely on the Lord. Depend on him. He never disappoints or fails.

TRANSITION: ‘R’ #4

IV. Rejoice in the Lord

“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice” (Phil. 4:4).

The scripture says to rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS.

Most of us find it easy to rejoice when things are going OUR way.

But do you rejoice when things are NOT going your way?

Beating discouragement, according to God’s Word, tells us we are to rejoice ALWAYS.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to rejoice in the Lord and be discouraged at the same time.

B. It is difficult, if not impossible, to rejoice in the Lord and be discouraged at the same time.

“I will bless the Lord at all times”

Say no to discouragement.

Rejoice in the Lord today.

Conclusion

If you are like me, it is not enough to have someone tell me, “Don’t be discouraged.”

I want to know HOW to not be discouraged

And so today God’s Word has given us four ‘R’s

Return- Prayer, God’s Word, Fellowship

Radiate- Reach out to others, let them see the light that lives within you

Rely- Throw away false idols so you can commit and trust

And Rejoice- Not just when you feel like rejoicing but in all circumstances

In order that we may say “NO” to discouragement and “Yes” to fulfillment through Jesus

And even more so say “Yes”