Finding Strength in Discouragment

Have you ever noticed that just when life seems to be sailing along and you think you can exhale and relax, the wind suddenly kicks up rocking your boat vehemently from side to side, leaving you weakened from trying to steady your boat and wondering where the storm came from? I don’t know why, but I am often caught off guard when a storm hits. You think I would learn to prepare or something, right? Not sure if you are with me? Try this example on for size.

School is going along smoothly, with your children completing assignments with a great attitude; they are almost cheery. Your children are all getting along without bickering. Your relationship with your husband has you feeling warm and fuzzy inside most of the time. You have taken time to simplify and organize your outside commitments, so you decide to accept an invitation from your husband to go on a date. You have a lovely time, but you realize on the drive home how exhausted you are, and begin “day dreaming” of curling up in your jammie pants with a good book and an early bed time.

 

Upon returning home, you kiss the children, ready them and yourself for bed and snuggle in. You thank your hubby for the wonderful evening, pick up your book and begin reading when WHAM! Your brain nearly explodes with a few tasks you had completely forgotten. Your head and heart go into full panic mode. You now realize you will be buried in tasks and backed up for days. So, you get out of bed and work late into the night; you are so weak and tired. Suddenly, you hear a stirring from the other end of the home. Not long after you hear tears and the patter of feet. In comes a child with a runny nose and pale face, followed by a fever. Now you are thinking, “How can I accomplish my chores and care for a sick child?” You spend time making your child comfortable and returning him to sleep. You finish a bit more work and realize 3 hours of sleep are better than none. The next morning an older child awakens to tell you that he was laid off from his job the night before. Your husband calls and tells you that his company has decided to discontinue the use of company cars, turning you into a one car family in the blink of an eye. Ok, you are getting a clear picture, right? Total discouragement. You may even be giggling as you recall similar times in your life. Or you may be in one of those season of life right now.

The drowning feeling of discouragement can lead to despair;  this is such a difficult place for us as women. We have so many people who look to us for guidance, support, and encouragement, and that is just in our own homes! We can feel the added pressure to put on a happy face on the outside. I know I have had this during different seasons. Take heart, because God is there for us at all seasons of our lives!

If we take a look at Matthew 6:33-34, we have hope, directly related to worry.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

We are not only told to cast worry aside, but that our first step to any and every thing is to seek Him first. This can only be accomplished with spending an abundant time in prayer; even those small one liners while you are at a stop light are included. This is followed up by seeking righteousness. Have you ever scratched your head at this?

The word righteousness, especially regarding what we are to do, can be intimidating. Let’s face it, seeking righteousness is no small task. We needn’t put all this pressure on ourselves to be righteous at every given moment, in every word we say, in each thought that passes through our brains, or in every act we do. Remember, we were created to err. Hope comes in boldly with our desire to seek righteousness in our lives, though in 1 Timothy 4:8.

For bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

Did you read that? When your motivation to continue on your journey toward transformation is consistently being accessed, you not only have the promise of the future, but a promise for your present situation! So seek God first, in every situation, and you will being to see how your mindset, thoughts, words, and actions are transformed into ones that don’t take every trial and turn it into a life crisis. You deal with it in a Godly manner, because your faith is constantly strengthened by your daily relationship with Him. Attitude is everything my friends.

We are able to look beyond the present despair, and still be encouraged because everything is part of God’s purpose for our lives. Mark 10:30 says

He will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.

 

We are supposed to have blessings that are easily accepted as positives, as well as those that might otherwise be considered negative, when taken out of context of God’ will to use everything as an opportunity to grow us up. When you open your heart up and accept what others would consider negatives as an essential part of your transformation, your actions and reactions to those situations will change. Discouragement and despair will become moments of thanksgiving! Ok, I know you may still have a negative emotional reaction to a situation, but sooner than later your emotions will be leveled out for you. Although I am nowhere close to completing this part of my transformation, I do know that God has transformed me tremendously already. I am better able to see the “despair” that comes with life in a more meaningful way which lightens my spirit and helps me to keep my attitude in check.

Life today has more opportunities for discouragement to creep in than at most any other time in history, even though we have so much more. Allowing God to come in and give an attitude adjustment will give you strength like steel!

You truly can be a pillar of strength!