Dealing with Discouragement

On leaving office, in an address to members of his administration (August 9, 1974), President Nixon gave the following advice. “Always give your best, never get discouraged, never be petty; always remember, others may hate you. Those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.” Pretty good advice for fighting discouragement, though I’m not sure he always followed it.

From time to time we all fight a battle with discouragement. Some of God’s most effective warriors faced discouragement. Elijah felt alone and hopeless. He fled to a cave in Mount Horeb where, in a moment of despair, he cried out: “I, even I only, am left: and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:10). Jeremiah, another of God’s prophets, became so discouraged he resolved not to mention God, or speak in his name (Jeremiah 20:9). He discovered that an impossible task.

At the heart of discouragement is a failure to trust God. We tend to think that so much depends on us, when in fact; we simply need to acknowledge the sovereignty of God. If anyone had reasons for bouts of discouragement it would be the apostle Paul. Yet, here is what he wrote from a Roman prison cell to the church at Philippi: “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:10-13).

The devil will do everything in his power to discourage us, but he will not succeed unless we surrender to him. May that never happen! John Bunyan wrote: “Who would true valor see, let him come hither; one here will constant be, come wind, come weather. There’s no discouragement shall make him once relent his first avow’d intent to be a pilgrim” (John Bunyan).

Don’t let discouragement get the upper hand. God will keep His promises. Through Jesus Christ we shall overcome!