Greetings,
So
you're discouraged. I get that. Life is hard, and anyone that said it was easy—they
lied. Maybe you're in the midst of a difficult break-up. Maybe you are watching
in disbelief as your marriage is falling to pieces. You may have just found out
that you're the next mother of a pregnant teenager, and she's already
four-months pregnant. Maybe your children are in gross rebellion, and while you
don't want to admit it, all you can do is blame yourself and your own
shortcomings.
You
may be discouraged because of that addiction you can never overcome. Is it
alcohol? Maybe it's marijuana? Or is your demon even more insidious, like
cocaine or heroin? Maybe your battle is with pornography or masturbation.
Maybe, it's simply the cyclical self-defeating ideologies that play over and
over in your head like a broken record player. Whatever boat you find yourself
in, you are hurting. When you sit back and attempt to assess your life, you are
overwhelmed by a horrific sinking feeling. You feel like wasted life.
Discouragement
is difficult. When a person is engaged in this battle, it is like trying to
wrestle their way out from under a ten thousand pound cinder block. I've been
there. Weakness overtakes us no matter what strategy we attempt to implement.
It's like trying to start a car with no gas. Even with a fresh coat of wax and
brand new rims—even with a pricy clean up job—it's
not going anywhere. The engine will try to start: but it will fail. As the
driver, you eventually give up, lean back in your chair, and resolve that under
the present circumstances, you are not going anywhere.
Maybe
you are the one that has paid for seminars, self-help books, counseling, and
still have yet to see the change you need. You are like that freshly waxed car.
Your head is full of great advice. You know things that have worked for others.
Maybe you even spoke some of that knowledge and watched it bless someone else.
But you, that's different. You have no results. You have more failure. You have
more discouragement. Discouragement and hopelessness are a dynamic duo, and
they dynamically oppress your life. What can you do?
Unfortunately,
I must admit upfront that there is no way a single article can solve all of the
complexities of your situation. However, I believe that there are certain key
insights that may start you down a path that will ultimately introduce you to
the victory you have so longed for. The truth of the matter is that I have
battled with discouragement. Frankly put, there are moments that I still battle
with discouragement. The difference for me is that I now understand the true
nature of my battle with discouragement. Before I realized its true nature, I
got my butt kicked every time!
Before
I disclose the true nature of my battle with discouragement I want to make one
thing clear. Physiological chemical imbalances can lead to feelings of
discouragement. If a simple change in diet or some herbal supplements solve
your feelings of discouragement, this is clearly the source of your problems.
If these changes have no impact, then your battle with discouragement runs
deeper. For you, my personal insights may prove exceptionally helpful.
In
the year of 2011 I went on a unique type of fast. I fasted all media and forms
of electronic entertainment. This meant no movies, no TV, no video games, etc.
I took it a step further and even fasted entertainment in the form of fiction
novels and other publications designed to provide entertainment. This may have
been easier if I was working a full-time job, but for the majority of the year
I wasn't working at all. I literally prayed, studied, and wrote all day long. Can
you imagine? It was the ultimate attempt to sever myself from all things
worldly and totally immerse myself into the things of God. This fast went on
without interruption for a literal 365 days. Under such circumstances, most
would simply assume that I ate and slept the glory and presence of God.
Contrary
to popular thought, this was not quite the case. Don't get me wrong, it worked
to greatly accelerate certain works of God in my personal life, and I did have
incredible moments with God that in some ways are impossible to describe with
words. However, the majority of my day-to-day life was repetitive. I read so
many non-fiction books on God and the Bible that all of the information began
to repeat itself. There were many times that I found myself incredibly bored.
However, the biggest challenge (at least initially) was discouragement. About
three months into the fast discouragement hung onto me so heavily that felt
like my physical body would literally collapse under the weight of it. Where
was this discouragement coming from?
This
is when I began to understand in a very personal way that my battle with
discouragement was spiritual. It was an attack on my life because the enemy
hated the way I was sacrificing myself to go deeper with God. Thus discouragement
was given an assignment to not only stifle my ability to engage God during the
fast but also to interrupt the fast if at all possible.
It
was a few days into this horrific attack that God spoke to me about starting a
prayer team. I contacted several close and trusted believers and formed a team
of people to pray me through that year. I want to take a moment to give a very
special shout-out to my Mom, Fabienne, Martyne, Becky, and my Grandparents for
making up my prayer team that year. The impact: within days of linking arms
with these other believers the power of discouragement was broken (in addition
to numerous other answered prayers). It was a battle I wasn't yet strong enough
to win myself. I needed others to stand with me, and in unity there was victory.
If you are like I was, and nothing you've done has worked, I urge you to
surround yourself with others. Christianity is a team effort. We need the
support and prayers of others to win!
___
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