Christ Leads The Way

“We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” -2 Corinthians 4:8

First, I want to say thank you for reading and continuing to show me your love and support. As always, I appreciate you!!! Here’s one from the archives that is still so relevant today. No matter what we’re going through in life, chances are we’ve probably been through worse. And God already brought us out of it on the other side. And if what you’re experiencing right now feels like the worst, then God still can and will deliver you from it. There is always hope. It’s the anchor of my soul. Feel free to comment and share what anchors your soul when you are discouraged?

I have been giving some thought to discouragement. There’s so much going on in the world today – so much hatred, so much violence, so much death, and so much pain. It’s enough to douse anyone’s high spirits.

Some people think that just because you are a Christian, nothing is supposed to bother you, or that you’re supposed to be happy all the time. When you become a Christian, you are still human with feelings and thoughts that are supposed to be your own. Everyone gets discouraged at times. Even great men and women of God did in the Bible and many do today.

Remember God’s prophet Elijah. He was very zealous for the Lord God (1 Kings 19:10). After he faced off with the prophets of the false god Baal and destroyed them, Jezebel set out to take Elijah’s life. “And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there” (1 Kings 19:3).

Elijah was so dismayed that “he prayed that he might die, and said, ‘It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!’” (1 Kings 19:4).  He had fervently served the Lord and all he had to show for it was being relentlessly harassed and threatened. He was just so tired. He wanted it all to end.

Job also was a man who feared God. The Lord said of him, “there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8). When Satan attacked Job’s livelihood, his livestock, his family, and his health, Job naturally became discouraged.

“After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth” (Job 3:1). He said, “Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb” (Job 3:11)? He did not want to live through all the continual suffering he was experiencing at the hands of the evil one.

And then there was the prophet Jeremiah. The Lord said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). He was chosen by God, yet he still faced discouragement.

Jeremiah was exasperated of warning the people of Israel about God’s judgments and no one listening. He’d even been beaten for preaching the words of the Lord (Jeremiah 20:1-2). Jeremiah said, “I am in derision daily; everyone mocks me” (Jeremiah 20:7) and “the word of the Lord was made to me a reproach and a derision daily” (Jeremiah 20:8).

He went on lamenting, “Cursed be the day in which I was born! Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!” (Jeremiah 20:14). He was discouraged; it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he may have been depressed.

So, it’s not uncommon or strange for God’s people to be discouraged. If Elijah, Job, and Jeremiah got discouraged, as zealous for God as they were, then we, too, can and will get discouraged in life.

That’s not the end of the story, though. There was hope for Elijah, hope for Job, hope for Jeremiah, and there’s hope for me and you. That hope is found in Christ, only.

You can have that hope if you obey Him. Believe that Jesus is Lord, repent of your sins, confess that He is Lord, and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins. Every day won’t be sunshine, but you will have the Lord on your side to help you face each one.

Be encouraged.

“We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” – 2 Corinthians 4:8

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