Resist discouragement
By Rick Warren

I believe procrastination is the number-one enemy of your life mission. You know what you're supposed to do, but you keep putting it off. That's a deadly enemy. But a close second is discouragement. If Satan can't get you to put off your life mission, he'll try to make you quit altogether.

If I'm going to fulfill the purpose for which I was made, then I must resist discouragement. Galatians (6:9) says: "Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Do you ever get tired of doing what's right? Sure you do.

When you're discouraged, you're ineffective, because discouraged people are the opposite of people of faith. When I am discouraged, I'm saying, "It can't be done." That's the exact opposite of saying, "I know God can do it because He's said …"

I have a few questions for you. How do you handle failure? When things don't go your way, do you start getting grumpy? Do you get frustrated? Do you start complaining? Do you have a pity party? Do you finish what you start? How would you rate yourself on persistence? The Bible says you need to resist discouragement. Don't give in without a fight.

Nothing worthwhile ever happens without endurance and energy. When a sculptor is trying to sculpt a masterpiece, do you think the first time he hits the chisel with the hammer everything's going to fall off and it will be a beautiful sculpture? No. He has to keep hitting it and hitting it, chipping away. And that's the way life is. Nothing really worthwhile ever comes easy in life. You keep hitting it and going after it—and little by little your life becomes a masterpiece.

The fact is, great people are really just ordinary people with an extraordinary amount of determination. Great people don't know how to quit.

I'm sure many of you are discouraged. Some of you are discouraged over your children. Their lives are not going well. Some of you are discouraged about your marriage. It's not what you thought it was going to be. Some of you are discouraged about your ministry. Or about your finances, or your health, or an unanswered prayer.

I want to say something to you. It may sound mean, but it isn't. I say this in love. If you're discouraged, that's your choice. You have chosen to be discouraged. Discouragement is always a choice. It comes from thinking discouraging thoughts—and you can change your thoughts any time. You have a choice of what you're going to focus on: either your purpose or your problems, God's power or your weakness, Christ or your circumstances. It's your choice.

Great people fight discouragement. Here's a tip to help: When you get discouraged,

ignore it. Just say to yourself, "I don't have time to be discouraged right now. I'm too busy fulfilling my mission." You can be realistic, but you also need to be optimistic because you are a Christian. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And "Lo, I am with you always," God says (Philippians 4:13; Matthew 28:20). He will help you, and He will strengthen you. Faith starts with optimism.

Some of you are going through some difficult times right now and you feel like dropping out of the race. You're discouraged because the situation seems unmanageable. Unreasonable. Unfair. It may seem unbearable. Inside you're basically saying, "Lord, I just can't take it anymore!" But you can. You can take it some more because God is with you. He'll enable you. Remember, you are never a failure until you quit, because quitting means you won't make it to the finish line.

Resist discouragement! Finish the race God has set before you.

 [end]

(Commentary:)

Run the race, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith (Hebrews 12:1-2). Don't look at yourself and all of your problems and difficulties. Look at Him, the one who died to save you from the greatest problem of all, death, and to grant you eternal life and love and happiness and victory over your problems, even here and now!

They're His problems too, you know, because you're His servant whom He loves dearly, and He has solutions to each of the problems that are such a weight and a burden right now. So lift up the hands that hang down and first lay all those weights aside, and then lift those same hands and praise Him for the weights and burdens, for His victories and solutions, and for every good thing that you can think of in your life. Discouragement can't resist praise!

 

Copyright © 2006 - 2008 Tommy's Window. All Rights Reserved.