Overcoming Discouragement

Life often gets discouraging just because it is so tough. Because this world is fallen, everyday life can be relentlessly difficult and exhausting. This constant resistance wears us out emotionally and spiritually, which can cause a loss of perspective. We begin to see people, events, political movements, and institutions that appear to be more powerful than the God of our faith. We lose heart. Our motivation to fight starts slipping away bit by bit.

Here is a truth that you and I know very well. YESTERDAY’S spiritual passion cannot be TODAY’S  spiritual energy. Gordon MacDonald writes, “Passion quickly dissipates; it must be restored. Like the manna God gave the Israelites in the desert, spiritual passion spoils quickly. As Moses and his people had to collect manna daily, so must we restore spiritual passion regularly. We would be wise to know how it so quickly disappears and what we can do when that happens.” (Restoring Your Spiritual Passion). This episode addresses the question, “How should Christ-followers deal with those days when we are unmotivated, down, discouraged, and our spiritual energy gone?”

In the deep jungles of Africa, a traveler was making a long trek. Coolies had been engaged from a tribe to carry the loads. The first day they marched rapidly and went far. The traveler had high hopes of a speedy journey. But the second morning these jungle tribesman refused to move. For some strange reason, they just sat and rested. On inquiry as to the reason for this strange behavior, the traveler was informed that they had gone too fast the first day, and that they were NOW waiting for their SOULS to catch up with their BODIES.”

How are we to function while we wait for the heart passion from our souls to catch up with the next day’s activities that we have to step into? This subject is crucial because we want to be motivated by our allegiance to Jesus, always. Only that desire to please him can keep us from falling into the destructive path of sin. But the reality of life is that ALL PASSIONS WANE. Let’s look into Scripture to observe 4 experiences of life that drain our spiritual passion and what we might learn that can help us push through dry, discouraging times in our walk with Christ.

Life Experience #1: Emotional Depletion

This experience is both a routine part of life and the result of going through intense emotional experiences—even though those experiences might be spiritual highs. I don’t know what the etymology is of the phrase mountaintop experience, but certainly the prophet Elijah’s showdown with the prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel fits that description. It was the culmination of 3.5 years of intense prayer for the nation of Israel to repent from its idolatrous worship of Baal so that God would remove the curse of the drought in the land. After Baal is unmasked as a false God who could not send fire to consume the sacrifice, the fire of Yahweh fell. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “Yahweh, he is God; Yahweh, he is God.” And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there (1 Kings 18:38-40).

Elijah had to pray intensely for the rain to fall—seven times. Then he ran 18 miles to Jezreel. Elijah was as spiritually, emotionally, and physically spent as any man could be, but God’s supernatural actions had caused the revival of Israel to begin with the false prophets being slain and the people’s hearts turning back to Yahweh. King Ahab had seen God reveal himself as the true God, heard the people voice their allegiance to Yahweh, and stood by watching Elijah slaughter the false prophets. It was a total spiritual victory—except that it wasn’t. Queen Jezebel’s heart had been moved but not in repentance but to greater hatred of Elijah, whom she vowed to execute within 24 hours. With zero spiritual, emotional, or physical strength to do otherwise, Elijah runs for his life. He travels to Beersheba outside Jezebel’s kingdom, goes into the desert, and pleads with God, “take my life.”

“Elijah was simply drained. He had given out everything on the mountaintop; nothing was left…Individuals in a drained condition feel caught up in a sea of feelings that often runs counter to all the facts. There are strong senses of self-doubt and negativism. The mind seeks out all the possible minor and major errors that might have been made in the past hours, and then it amplifies them until all positive contributions are merely blotted out. Drained people become super critical of self and, of course, of others. They are convinced they have made fools of themselves, that nothing done or said will be remembered or implemented” (Ibid).

Emotional Depletion Happens: Application Principles

#1. Beware that when our emotional tank is on, empty, the pull towards something that feels good intensifies. Pastors watch porn on Sunday nights more than any other time because they are emotionally depleted by their ministry Sunday. I think God shaped our emotional tanks to be refilled through things we ENJOY—things that bring the good feeling of pleasure. But it must be lawful.

#2. Put three habits in place to keep our hearts emotionally renewed.

1. Find joy in your love relationship with God both ways—by delighting in the wonderful being that he is, and by basking in his delight in you. As surely as a child is the delight of his father and a bride the delight of the bridegroom, you are a delight to God. He enjoys YOU.
2. Build the brotherhood friendships that Jesus modeled with Peter, James, and John. One successful Christian businessman laments, “In one year, we’ve seen a tenfold increase in business, and that’s exciting. But I’m tired because I feel alone. Yes, I have a wife who is very supportive; but there are no men supporting me. When I read Exodus 17 of Moses being lifted up by other men, I watch a TEAM of men fight the Amalekites, the hated enemies of the Israelites. Moses gets tired and yet Aaron and Hur, his two friends, hold him up. God, I need some Aarons and Hurs in my life to join me.”
3. Build a flourishing love relationship with your wife. Certainly, there are days when unselfishly trying to love the other drains our emotional tank. But over the long haul, our romance with our wives should be adding to our emotional reserves. Rejoice in the wife of your youth…be intoxicated always in her love (Prov 5:18-19). That is a picture of two renewed hearts.

Life Experience #2: Everything is so Hard

Life often gets discouraging just because it is so tough. Because this world is fallen, everyday life can be relentlessly difficult and exhausting. This constant resistance wears us out emotionally and spiritually, which can cause a loss of perspective. We begin to see people, events, political movements, and institutions that appear to be more powerful than the God of our faith. We lose heart. Our motivation to fight starts slipping away bit by bit.

Authors Anne and Ray Ortland, in their book, You Don’t Have to Quit, pose this question: “Is there a secret that could help you stick it out through your darkest, most trying situations, until you emerge truly victorious?” In other words, “how can you keep from losing heart when everyday life is SO HARD?” They continue, “When you think about it, everybody’s had those periods. And the people who have made it have come through a time sequence—a time sequence that could be the clue to your making it, too: a) They began, in some new situation or effort; b) They hit problems and somehow worked their way through them; c) They came out on top.” 

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