Dealing with Discouragement
Notes
Transcript
TOOLS FOR SALE
It was advertised that the devil was going to put his tools up for sale. On the date of the sale, the tools were placed for public inspection; each tool being marked with its sale price. They were a treacherous lot of implements.....Hatred, Envy, Jealousy, Deceit, Lying, Pride, and so on.
Laid apart from the rest was a harmless looking tool, well worn and priced very high.
"What is the name of this tool?" asked one of the purchasers, pointing to it.
"That is Discouragement", replied the devil.
"Why have you priced it so high?"
"Because it is more useful to me than the others. I can pry open and get inside a man's heart with that when I cannot get near him with my other tools. Once I get inside, I can make him do what I choose. It is badly worn because I use it on almost everyone, since very few people know that it belongs to me."
My friend, don't let Satan discourage you in anyway. You are God's child and have the victory already won. All you have to do is keep your faith on the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ. The devil will not have a chance to discourage you, even with his best tools.
Discouragement is a virus greater than Covid. It has destroyed more lives, businesses, families and churches than Covid has or ever will.
I. THE EPIDEMIC OF DISCOURAGEMENT:
IT IS UNIVERSAL. No one is immune. Everyone you have met has faced discouragement.
IT IS RECURRING. You don’t build up antibodies to it.
IT IS CONTAGIOUS
CARRIED BY THE MEDIA. If it bleeds it leads.
And CAUGHT BY CASUAL CONTACT.
When God’s people have a mind to work, the Devil has a mind to wreck! And let me tell you, this soft headed Christianity that does not want conflict with the world, that doesn’t want to have any discouraging word in regards to faith, morals and family, is a false religion. Listen if you wake up every day and you never come face to face with the Devil, that’s a good indication that you are headed the same way as the Devil. And you can’t walk the Highway to Heaven without the Devil looking for a head on collision.
So how do we deal with discouragement? Good ol Nehemiah faced it head on and tackled it.
1 Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry and mocked the Jews. 2 He spoke in the presence of his brothers and the wealthy men of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the dusty rubble even the burned ones?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, “Even what they are building—if a fox should jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!” 4 Hear, O our God, how we are despised! Return their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not forgive their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before You, for they have demoralized the builders. 6 So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. 7 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. 8 All of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it. 9 But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night. 10 Thus in Judah it was said, “The strength of the burden bearers is failing, Yet there is much rubbish; And we ourselves are unable To rebuild the wall.” 11 Our enemies said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them and put a stop to the work.” 12 When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, “They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,” 13 then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears and bows. 14 When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.” 15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work. 16 From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows and the breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah. 17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. 18 As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me. 19 I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another. 20 “At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.” 21 So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars appeared. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Let each man with his servant spend the night within Jerusalem so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.” 23 So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes, each took his weapon even to the water. 1 Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.
II. SOURCES OF DISCOURAGEMENT:
1. RIDICULE. v 3-4
2. WEARINESS.
3. POOR PLANNING.
RECOGNIZE YOUR RESPONSE TO RIDICULE IS YOUR PROBLEM.
YOU CAN’T CHANGE THE OTHER PERSON.
Don’t hope that you are going to make an unhappy Cranky person happy by giving in to their ridicule or complaints. Don’t change the Great Commission because the world or even a member of a church says, “I don’t like your methods.” You will only get stung twice. You will be giving in your dreams and you will be drowned by their problems as well.
Illustration: The Frog and the Scorpion.
YOU CAN ONLY CONTROL YOUR ACTIONS.
DON’T CHANGE YOUR PURPOSE.
Turn the problem into a motivation. Nehemiah just turned up the heat. He made a better game plan and he revved up the time line. We will build the future or tear it down in the end. There are people and situations that may cause a few bumps in the road, but it is you who decides to stay on the road or take the side road of discouragement.
The best performers in the world do not necessarily face less discouragement. But they spin it for positive energy. Drew Brees was told he was too short and his arm not strong enough, he went out and won the Superbowl. Oprah was told she was too common by a network. So she started her own. The greatest athletes, most successful business women, homemaker takes the challenges and use them as teachable moments and motivation to focus even more.
Genesis 50:20-21 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. 21 “So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
III. WAYS TO OVERCOME DISCOURAGEMENT:
KEEP YOUR INTENSITY UP.
KEEP YOUR GOAL IN SIGHT.
We are not simply here to get through Covid. We exist to worship God, enjoy Him forever and grow His family.
We are not just building a multipurpose room as a church. We are building people.
You have a life to build, a character to build, a business to build, a family to build, a teenager to build into a man or a woman, a marriage, a relationship that will lead someone to eternal life, building a farm, an engineer a life! And you need to defeat discouragement.
You know the most dangerous time in any endeavor is when you are halfway there. It’s when you are half way there that things get really tough going. Listen you first start a job it’s the greatest, then you don’t enjoy the mundane for a time and you get antsy. Marriage, honeymoon is great We asked what that night was like. Twister and Candy land were the most popular answers. And its easy when you start. And the older couples have figured out how to live together. But its when you are in the middle, kids at home, more bills than dollars. Its when you get to Junior year that the classes seem to get tougher.
BE WILLING TO ADJUST YOUR PLAN TO KEEP PURPOSE BOSS.
We get so easily directed off course. One of the fastest wars we fought came when we had operation Desert Storm. We moved tens of thousands of troops rapidly through Iraq. One of the logistics commanders recieved a letter from the Pentagon. Stat: Please find a pallet of grape jam that seems to be missing. Well the commander ignored it. then a fax came through from the purchaser at the Pentagon. Please locate this pallet so we can close our books. He ignored it again. The a sat phone call came in demanding the commander find the missing pallet. He responded, Listen, I am overseeing the logistics of moving 30 000 troops, armored divisions, and air support. I can either fight the war or go find you pallet of grape jelly and hung up the phone. They didn’t call back.
That’s the story behind the bottle of grape jelly he keeps on his desk. It reminds him to keep purpose boss. Not complainers, not those who go AWOL. Not the things that pop up to distract you, not COVID 19.
Let me say, some of you here today need to stop chasing after grape jelly. We serve a great God worthy of worship and devotion. We live in a world where the majority of people travel the broad road to hell. We have to keep purpose boss.
DON’T BE A SELF-SERVER.
Nehemiah offered a safe and workable plan in light of the changing situation. He gave them a pep talk that reminded them that being good enough was not the goal. Serving and Awesome God was. And sometimes we need to be reminded that when you are on the team of Awesome, God has called you to be more than good enough!
Remember our purpose from God. So when we with Him
Robert Louis Stevenson gave us this little story:
A ship was in a serious storm and in grove distress. The passengers were alarmed. One of them finally, against orders, went up to the deck and made his way to the pilot. The seaman was at his post of duty at the wheel, but, seeing the man was greatly frightened. he gave him a reassuring smile. Returning to the other passengers. the man told. "I have seen the face of the pilot, and he smiled. All is well."
"I have seen the face of the pilot, and he smiled. All is well." can be the phrase on which the story of the transfiguration is based.
