Discouraged? Take Heart!

Discouragement comes into your heart much like a long night that ushers in a dense morning fog. When the fog settles in to the mountain valley, it is going to be around for a while and there is not much you can do to change it. It will stay until the Sun (Son) comes up strong enough to burn it off!

 

We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.

Quote By -- Martin Luther King

 

What Brings Out Discouragement In My Life?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

• Shattered Expectations In Human Beings
• Someone loving me conditionally
• Mistakes of others that slam me with bad consequences
• Disillusionment in family members
• Nothing working out the way I planned it
• Dead Ended Dreams
• Sudden U-Turns In My Life Path
• Friendship Betrayal
• Not getting what I hoped for and not understanding why
• My process worked out, not yielding expected results
• Wounded By A Wounded Person
• Not finishing what I start
• Failing while others succeed
• Not measuring up to others expectations
• Dashed hopes by greedy people
• Other peoples assumptions
• Unanticipated Personal Attack
• Lack of self control
• Disobedience By Me/Others
• Bad Choices By People I Love
• Failed Plans
• Trying To Help Only To Make Things Worse
• High Expectations Not Fulfilled In The Slightest Way
• Guilt/Shame

 

Are You Discouraged….TAKE HEART!

Written By: Kimberlymac

Recently, I had a conversation with the Lord about a memory I have of how God used discouragement to shape my inner personality for good! Here is that conversation between me and God:

 

"Lord, I like to run full out for You! It gives me joy unspeakable! It is completely my heart's desire to run the race You have set before me with excellence! The thing that trumps my inner personality, derailing my life-race at times, is my independent nature trying to be a perfectionist, instead of being completely Yours!

When I am running my pursuit of Your Kingdom in this life-race that You have set my course for, there are times I willfully decide to let loose those impulsive spurts of my own personally designed precision racing! I also have realized that You purposely let me go the way of my will and learn on my own about the consequences of an erratic life pace!

There have been those times in my life-race that I have willfully and arrogantly left Your side Lord; foolishly thinking I did not need to run my race following my Pace Setter all the time! Yes, I was of the opinion I was smart enough to set my own pace! Ahhhh Lord, I have learned the lesson of my pride going arrogantly off on its own without Your guidance! Ahhh Yes… I have done some pretty foolish things! LOL! Yet… You still love me!!

Lord, I remember the first time I impulsively stopped mid-sprint because I let myself be distracted by something that I felt I could do, something that was good, but not in line with the course You had paced out for me. Remember the time Lord, that I changed my course to pick up and carry another person's problems? I rationalized it would be okay to try to run the course You set out for me and help them too. I presumed that it would be acceptable for me to make a little diversion in my life path! I imagined and day dreamed that I could do this good thing! In my opinion, I could make it work out for all of us! My self image was really inflated! I was that good!! I felt I could really help them and still run the race that You had set out for me! I contemplated about the wisdom I had learned along the way on my life-path and reasoned that I had the perspective that could solve their problems. I could fix them! I had the solution! I just had to figure it all out!

I remember You and I talked about it and You, Lord, asked me to stay my course, but I willfully decided I could do both, so I made a slight adjustment in my divine itinerary to accommodate what I wanted to do. I then white-washed my disobedience with the rationalization that I was doing a good thing, that I naturally had all the ability to do! Oh, I can't tell you how many times after that I thought those same foolish thoughts and I piled on more and more of other people's life equations that needed answers! I guess I don't have to tell You, You watched the whole thing unravel, knowing where it would end!

You know Lord, at first, I felt very invincible as I kept adding more and more weight in my backpack, but after a while of sweating, persevering and toting all that extra load, I found myself dragging my feet as everyone began freely flying by me.

It was at that point frustration began to set in my soul and do You remember that I had the gall to question You! Wow, I did… didn't I Lord! I arrogantly asked You why I seemed to be the only one weighed down! I was snotty wasn't I Lord when I ask You: "Why can't I keep up with the rest? Why don't You give me Your strength to help me with this yoke of burdens?" I got even more bigheaded with You as I said this: "It is not fair that everyone else is passing me up when I am trying to do something good! Why am I failing when I am trying to do what is right?" Isn't it funny that I blamed You and accused You of not being just! Blame… Be Lame! And that I was! I limped right out of Your Presence bitterly determined to do it myself! I said: "If You are not going to help me, I will just have to do it myself!" How foolish was that??!!

I remember after that conversation, You Lord, just patiently jogged beside me, looking on and waiting for my will to collapse, knowing that soon I would find out how much I needed to depend upon You. I have to smile when I think back on that little independent trek I took with my will erroneously leading my spirit and how I kept stubbornly trying to keep up my self-determined pace. I pushed myself so hard! I had something to prove! Of course by then, my tempo was slower than a snail and I was way behind as my dashed expectations added further heaviness to my emotional baggage! I stupidly kept expending my reserve energy by complaining and whining about how I could not keep up with my mind bogged down; creating its own "back-ak-wards spin" as it was in pursuit of the perfect answers for all the unsolved problems I still carried in my backpack! I ignorantly kept up my willful pace even though my soul was juggling too much weight, which kept me continuously off balance! The worst part of my independence run amuck was the way my discouraged emotions were tipping the scales of my spirit into overkill.

Now as I look back in heavenly hindsight of that moment in time, I remember You are smiling Lord, as You silently watched me obstinately dragging my will, which by then was completely hogged tied by my pride! I was feeling tired all the time, my mind was in a fog and my soul was screaming for rest! Suddenly my spirit succumbs to complete discouragement and crashes into my will, sending me tumbling, plummeting downward into depression. I find myself in a heap on the floor of a dark pit of despair! My will is broken, my soul is bruised and my spirit is crying out in the pain of it all! I sat there stunned as I realized I could not see You anywhere and I cried out: "Where are you God? Why have you left me? Then truth that stood the test of my foolishness spoke to my inner man in a still small voice and my rationalization turned to reality and I humbled myself and out of a contrite heart I spoke: "I am so sorry! Please Forgive Me Lord!" I remember the cleansing tears flowing and then immediately seeing a hand, the Right Hand of God offered to me and wisely choosing to take it!

The sweetest thing I committed to memory from this lesson was the first thing You did Lord, after I took Your Right Hand in mine and you pulled me up from the pit! I will never forget how You gently took the yoke off me and then fully embraced me to Your bosom! I felt such unconditional love! It was a precious worship moment that I have written on my heart! You then nurtured and cared for my wounded soul, and when I was ready, You instructed me and set my feet back on the course You originally had designed for me and told me to follow You. At that moment, I remember feeling overwhelmed with gratefulness for this new opportunity, the second chance to finish the race You started with Me and I stepped out into a brand new adventure with You!

Lord God, I love You! I know in my heart, this time I will run the course set out before me! I will jog in step with My Pacesetter because I have learned this valuable life lesson from The Course Designer!"

 

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Have you ever had one of those kind of experiences where your will jumps out ahead of God's plan? The one thing that still inspires me is the significant role that discouragement played in getting me to follow a pace prescribed in willessness, positioned in the grace of My Pacesetter and run with His purpose! His ways are truly not our ways and I would never have expected that the negative of discouragement could be used for such a positive change in me!

Have you ever been discouraged? I realize that discouragement at the onset is a bad feeling, but God can use it for a good and tangible result! Are you discouraged? Take Heart!! Something good is about to happen! It did in me! Something good for me happened right after discouragement! Willessness! Take Heart, Be Of Good Cheer… Don't Be Discouraged… BE FOUND IN JESUS! Let The Hope Of God, Jesus Christ Be Your Pace Setter And Run Your Race Excellently. Stay Your Course, Set Your Eyes On Jesus And Follow Him!

 

Dig Deeper…. Pray Deeper….Live Deeper….Just Do It!!

Discouragement can also be used as an obstacle to fog up our life-path and try to keep us from the clarity we need to stay the course and run the race set before us with faith!

 

Father God it is Your Truth, Your very Words, The Sword of The Spirit that You have freely given us, our Bible… where we can find the discernment to deal wisely in the times of heavy enemy fog. You, Lord God will give us the courage to make our way and to press on through the fog of discouragement until Your Bright Son-Shine burns it completely off our life path! Holy Spirit teach us how not to fall prey to the temptation to stop and visit with our discouragement in times of fog, but to take heart and continue the course set before us, the race You have given us, with faithfulness, persistence and perseverance.

 

Jesus teach us to P-R-E-S-S through our discouragements by clinging to You and setting our roots deeper in Your Kingdom and to play out our designed game with You by Your full court

P-R-E-S-S….

P-Pray Unceasingly In Belief And Hope

R-Renew Our Hearts Only In Your Presence

E- Encouraging One Another Unto Your Spirit

S- Seek You First And Foremost In Our All In All

S- Serve Unto You With Undivided Hearts Of Faith.

 

Hosea 6:3 (NLT) "Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know him! Then he will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring."

 

For Futher Encouragement About Discouragement…

Go To www.hillsongtv.com and double click on Watch Online

 

Listen To The Messages: Don't Lose Heart Part One and Part Two

These messages are for a time such as this season that our Country is going through. They will inspire you, give you wisdom, equip you for the times ahead and clear up any discouraging fog that has settled on your spirit.