Discouraged In Heart

 

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

 

Psalm 34:18

 

 

Sometimes despair waits at the bottom of a deep valley, or in the middle of a parched journey through the desert. And still it may just hide at the top of a glorious sun-washed mountain, ready to ambush you when you reach the summit.

 

Elijah must have felt a sense of discouragement, as he challenged the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and believed God would keep His promise to bring rain to a dry and famine-wracked land.

 

The prophets were crushed.

 

The rains came.

 

And what was Elijah's reward for courageous faith and obedience?

 

A death sentence from Queen Jezebel.

 

Elijah ran in terror to Beersheba, collapsed under a tree and prayed to die. "I have had enough, Lord," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors" (I Kings 19:4).

 

Every servant who seeks to follow the Master will experience such trials, but that does not mean that God is suddenly absent or indifferent. "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" the disciples cried, shaking awake a sleeping Jesus as the waves swamped their storm-tossed boat (Luke 8:24).

 

God cares and more so than we can ever know—He will calm the storm—but He works on His own timetable, not ours. And the world, the flesh and the devil will resist His work by any means necessary.

 

"There was a long season where the ground was so hard," wrote a missionary. "We covered the land with prayer that fell like sweet rain to soften the ground. Next, there was a season for tilling and readying the land, and then a season for planting. We feel that now we are in the season where the shoots have begun to come up from the ground. These shoots are tender and delicate, and must be treated carefully. It's not the great harvest yet, but we feel the harvest is soon to come. In this new season, as the plants are beginning to grow, we have found our enemy is frantic to stop what [God] is doing."

 

The enemy's most effective weapon: discouragement.

 

We need to continue to seek God when we find ourselves at the point of despair, heartache, and discouragement despite what our feelings are dictating. During these times we will find that the soil of our heart is being tilled, in order to weed out those things which have choked out the harvest from thriving and producing fruit in our lives.

How Long, O Lord

 

How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

 

Psalm 13:1-2

 

 

 

In Psalm 13, David's poignant "How Long" is packed with emotion, yet there's a clear progression to his thoughts of those long nights of heartache when tomorrow seems far away.

 

The Groping Phase

In verses 1 and 2, David was groping. He wrote: "How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?"

 

David's prolonged, "How long?" is a bitter but biblical cry.

 

He was a man of God, after God's own heart.

 

Yet he groped for answers and cried out, "How long?"

 

The Coping Phase

In verses 3 and 4 it talks about coping through the medium of prayer: "Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; lest my enemy say, 'I have prevailed against him.'"

 

David turned to prayer and begged God to hear him lest his night of sorrow never end.

 

Prolonged trouble can teach us about prevailing prayer. Through unanswered prayer, we learn patience.

 

We need to progress spiritually from groping to coping, using the wonderful availability of prayer— even when the answers seem delayed.

 

"Consider and hear me, O Lord!"—that's our cry.

 

The Hoping Phase

In verses 5 and 6 it talks about that as we wait before God with unanswerable questions, hurts, and the likes, He wants to move us into the hoping phase that ends this Psalm.

 

Notice that Psalm 13 begins with a sigh and ends with a song: "But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me."

 

We are not sure David's circumstances had changed; but through prayer, he had moved into an attitude of hope, of trust, of optimism and of sustained joy.

 

Amidst our lives challenges, we make a choice. We can either gripe and complain, or we can lift up our eyes to the Lord and say, "God, I don't know what is going on here; I don't truly understand it. But I will put my trust in You, and I will praise You with all my heart. I will arrange my mind according to the promises of Your Word."

 

We learn through the hurt and pain that we just keep going forward. We don't collapse or faint. The book of Proverbs says, "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small" (Proverbs 24:10). Take each day as it comes, put one foot in front of the other, and just keep going—the Bible calls this perseverance, walking by faith and not by sight.

 

And, to keep looking upward. Remember what King Jehoshaphat said when faced by his enemies in 2 Chronicles 20:12: "We have no power against this great multitude coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You."

 

Our God is a very present help in all areas of our lives, and we can come boldly to Him for grace to help in time of need. Though He tarries, He does not deny. He has His own timetable, and sometimes His schedule seems slow to our mortal minds. But the promise is sure: "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning" (Psalm 30:5).

 

The night doesn't last forever, and tomorrow will surely come.

 

Our job isn't to mope, grope or even to cope.

 

It's to hope in His unchanging grace.

 

Put one foot in front of the other, and keep looking up...

God Never Gives Up

 

 

My nourishment comes from doing the will of God… and from finishing His work.

 

John 4:34

 

 

 

Once, while Francis of Assisi was hoeing his garden, he was asked, "What would you do if you were suddenly told you'd die at sunset today?" He replied, "I'd finish hoeing my garden." Our perseverance doesn't change God—it changes us.

 

If we're willing to continue—even when we feel like quitting—we'll learn lessons of compassion, understanding, and dependability.

 

Jesus is our ultimate example of not quitting… even as a child of 12, He reminded His distraught parents, "Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house? (Luke 2:49).

 

Later, during His public ministry, He told His disciples, "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God… and from finishing His work" (John 4:34).

 

Even when Jesus was dying, He rejected the challenge of the crowd: "Save yourself, and come down from the cross!" (Mark 15:30).

 

It is so human to let go and quit when under fire. However, it is divine to hang in there. At the end of His ordeal, Jesus said, "'It is finished!' Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit" (John 19:30).

 

We sometimes let go and give in—quitting—when what God has for us is to persevere and receive the blessing He has before us even when we feel unworthy and not fit for what has always been ours, if we would only by faith receive.

Digitalize

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry… You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.  But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator… Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

 

 

Colossians 3:5-14

The picture in the magazine was flawless.

 

The couple looked gorgeous, flawlessly dressed in the latest stylish fashion looking content, and the picture radiated perfection.

 

Only later do we realize that the images in front of us have been manipulated and transformed into a master piece that could only come from the help of none other than digitalism.

 

Real life had been digitalized.

 

How often do we present ourselves to one another in a similar manner?

 

Covering up all of our flaws and imperfections so that we look "picture perfect" to all those that we meet or interact with from day to day.

 

We hide who we truly are.

 

And if that does not seem to strike a cord within us, what should more than ever, is the stark reality that we are not being who God so lovingly fashioned us to be.

 

To camouflage our imperfections, insecurities, and weaknesses, we copy spiritually vapid words into our conversations and paste convincing smiles on our faces. Confronted with our fake presentations, we conceal the truth and end up living two lives.

 

Seemingly perfect, yet truly fabricated.

 

As believers, we're called to cut away the things of old: "anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from [our] lips" (Colossians 3:8), a difficult task in itself. But putting on the "new self" is not something we just paste in place. Developing the character of Christ-likeness requires patience and truth—with God, with ourselves and with one another.

 

While there are times when we wish we could strike through words we have spoken and rewrite the sentences of our days, maturing as a Christian is a journey that we engage in step by step.

 

 

When we flow the journey that God is leading us on we find that we have complete freedom to be real—to be the men and women that God has fashioned us to be for his glory.

 

God does not want digitalized reproductions.

 

He desires a real relationship with us, one in which we're willing to wrestle through the hard work of maturity. After all, what could be more perfect than being chosen and deeply loved (See Colossians 3:12) by the Creator of all?

 

Going Against The Flow

But the whole assembly talked about stoning them.

Numbers 14:10a

Have you ever had to stand up against the majority for a cause that wasn't popular?

God brought the Israelites out of Egypt and promised He would lead them into a land of milk and honey. The process of moving out of Egypt was difficult and they could no longer do things the old way, for the old ways didn't work in the desert. God provided for them during this journey, but there came a point in which the people forgot what God had said—their discomfort changed their belief about God.

Whenever God is slow to answer our prayers, what we believe about God is revealed.

Do we change our plans and move in a different direction when pressure mounts?

Or do we continue on the path God has directed for us?

Four men—Moses, Aaron, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh—believed what God said and were willing to stand; however, the crowd wanted to stone them.

Joshua and Caleb said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them." But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites (See Numbers 14:5-10).

Notice Joshua and Caleb's response to the situation:

• They had spied the land (actively responded to God's call)
• They believed God (faith)
• They challenged the crowd (encouraged them to move forward by faith)

Has God called you to stand for a cause bigger than yourself?

You will have opposition to His call; sometimes it even comes from those in your own camp.

But if God has called you, then you can be sure He will make a way.

He has already opened the way before you.

But you must walk in faith, joined with Him to take the land.

...Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:9).

Overlooking Offenses

A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.

 

Proverbs 19:11

We have all heard of the scenario of the man and woman who when it came time to go somewhere in the car, the woman had a strong need to direct the mans driving. She would tell him where to turn and when to turn, even when to speed up or slow down.

 

It was such a nagging habit that it drove man crazy and became the source of many an argument. Finally, one day the man just concluded that God might be trying to teach him something through this experience. So he decided he would let go of his need to be free from this correction; and he began to affirm the woman and even thank her for her input.

 

It was excruciatingly painful to do this from where he sat.

A few months passed.

 

He let go of the entire situation and actually got to a place where it just didn't matter to him anymore. An interesting thing happened a few months later. One day the woman looked at him and said, "I just realized that I have been directing your driving all these years and now realize why I do that. It goes back to… I am so sorry I have been doing that."

 

The man nearly fell out of his seat!

Whenever we work close to another person, whether in an office or home, small offenses can become the source of great conflict, and resentment and irritability soon follow. God brings these "offenses" into our lives to develop character qualities in us. He uses individuals in our lives to accomplish his goal of making us more Christ-like. So the next time you complain or resist a habit or action from someone close to you, ask God if it has been placed there to develop some quality in you.

Pride is the root source of the need to change another person. A man's wisdom gives him patience—to let go of little offenses. This is where spiritual maturity is seen in the day-to-day activity of life.

 

Is there someone close to you who has some habit you really want to change or is there a habit that you have that your eyes have been open up to from the nagging habit of someone around you?

 

Seek God in this matter and lay down your needs or better put PRIDE and you will be amazed at how He will work in this area of your life!

Our Work Versus What God Has For Us-Basic Needs

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

 

Genesis 2:15

Every man has a need to work and gain satisfaction in caring and seeing something come from his efforts.

 

Man was created to have seven basic needs and each of us has a need for:

 

1. Dignity
2. Authority
3. Blessing and provision
4. Security
5. Purpose and meaning
6. Freedom and boundary
7. Intimate love and companionship

 

Many of our basic needs are derived from our work; it was one of the first acts God did for man in the Garden of Eden. He gave him responsibility to care for and work the Garden. God knew man needed to be productive and needed to gain satisfaction from his work.

The danger of this is when we allow our work to be our complete source of purpose and meaning in life—this leads to a performance-based life. A performance-based life says, "As long as I perform in my work, I am acceptable to myself and others." This is a subtle trap for all of us. It can lead us to become workaholics or miss out on other blessing (seen in the seven basic needs above) if we are seeking acceptance through what we do and sometimes this can be on a subconscious level.

Our value must be centered in God, not in what we do.

 

If we lose our job or our business, this should not devastate us if we are centered in God. Most certainly it may create difficulties, but God is the orchestrator of all the events in our lives for His purposes—even difficult times have purposes.

Today, ask God if you have a proper balance in all seven basic needs that He has designed us with, especially in the area or work.

 

Is God the central focus?

 

If you work long hours, ask yourself why.

 

You might discover that God may not be the central focus and He is calling you to focus on or accept the blessing in the other seven basic needs that you might be neglecting because you are so focused on work.

The Gift Of Death In Difficulties

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

 

2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Have you ever gone through a very difficult time in your life?

 

When we go through difficult times, they make us realize the value of life and help us to appreciate the simple things that we took for granted before. When we are restored from such a trial, it is as though we have been given a new beginning. We can place a greater value on what we had before and use it for God's purposes.

Maybe you can recall having an attitude of superiority over those who went through a difficult financial crisis. And because you have never experienced any financial crisis in your life, this pride kept you from identifying with such people—until God brought such a trial into your life.

 

Since then perhaps you have learned that the world and even Christians often treat such people as lepers. Like you, they didn't know how to relate. Now, you appreciate the little things that you never would have valued without that trial. The experience has taught you greater dependence and faith in the provision area of your relationship with God.

When God brings death to one area of life, He resurrects it in a new way. Death works in us to bring new life and new perspectives. These are designed to press us forward in ways that we never would have moved without the experience. God knows how much this is needed in our life to gain the prize He has reserved for each of us. It is His strategic mercy that motivates Him to bring such events into our life.

 

Press into Him, learn of Him, and rely on Him—take the next step of faith!

God Orchestrated Delays

Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him."

John 11:14-15

Delays in our lives are not always easy to handle or to resolve in our minds. Often, when God does not answer our prayers in the time that we feel He should, we appoint all sorts of characteristics to God's nature that imply He does not care.

Such was the case with Lazarus' sisters when Lazarus became ill and died. Jesus was a close friend to Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha (See John 11:1-45). When Jesus arrived two days later, Martha shamed Him by saying, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." She implied that He didn't care enough to come when he was sent for.

It was a matter of priorities for Jesus, not lack of love.

God often has to delay His work in us in order to accomplish something for His purposes that can be achieved only in the delay. Jesus had to let Lazarus die in order for the miracle that was about to take place to have its full effect. If Jesus had simply healed a sick man, the impact of the miracle would not have been as newsworthy as resurrecting a man who had been dead for four days. What many do not realize is that the key to the whole story is in the following chapter—John 12.

God often sets the stage so that His glory is revealed through the events that He orchestrates.

He did this with Abraham and Sarah for the promised child, Isaac. He did this with Moses and Pharaoh, allowing delay after delay for release of the Israelites from Egypt. All this and more God has done in order to demonstrate His power.

Delays can provide the necessary preparation and greater glory that God should receive.

Don't take the delays lightly and do not faint as God places you in what seems to be a holding pattern. God is at work and He knows the purposes for His delays. Don't give up, for they are for His greater glory—we just need to remain faithful.

 

Proving The Word's Of God

They bruised his feet with shackles; his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true.

 

Psalm 105:18-19

God spoke to Joseph as a young boy through a dream and vision regarding his future. He could not understand its complete meaning at the time, but he knew it had great significance. Joseph knew God had a destiny for his life.

 

However, the proving out of that word from God was filled with 13 years of waiting, rejection, pain, sorrow, and no doubt, questioning God's faithfulness.

His life was all but a life of influence and impact as a prisoner and slave. No doubt he wondered whether that dream was simply some vain imagination.

 

David must have felt the same when he was anointed king over Israel as a young man only to spend years of fleeing from King Saul. God's preparation for greatness in His Kingdom is often filled with waiting and at times difficulty.

 

But why is this?

 

Well maybe because God is more concerned about developing the inner life of his servant.

 

That inner life can only be prepared by removing all self-confidence and replacing it with God-confidence.

Is God proving His word in your life?

 

Perhaps He is using circumstances and events to move you into a place of patient waiting as He puts you in the place He desires for you. This is the place where the foundation of your entire being matures—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

 

Let God prove your faith by the words He has spoken to you!

Faithfulness In Our Calling

He went out to meet Asa and said to him, "Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you."

 

2 Chronicles 15:2

Asa was the king of Judah (from 912-872 B.C.) and he reigned for 41 years. He was known as a good king who served the Lord with great zeal and reformed many things. He broke down idol worship—even removed his own mother from being queen because she worshiped an idol—to foreign gods and he put away male prostitutes. We see in God's Word that as long as he sought God, his reign prospered.

However, Asa was not totally faithful in his calling. There came a time in his life when he made a decision to no longer trust in God of Israel and he lost his confidence in Him as his deliverer. The prophet Hanani came to Asa to inform him that God's blessing was no longer on his life because of an ungodly alliance he had made.

Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war (2 Chronicles 16:8-9).

There are no guarantees that if we began well we will finish well—the life of Asa tells us this. It is only through God's grace that we can be faithful to our calling. Each of us is capable of walking out of God's will, but as we seek to live faithfully to God, we will fulfill the purposes He has for our life.

 

God does strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to walking in His will!