Inspirational

When You’re Feeling Dejected and Discouraged

August 20, 2014 / 15 Comments

Sometimes when disappointments and discouragements are present in our life it’s easy to lose sight of anything good.

discouragement

This is something I have struggled with a lot in my personal life.  I’ve overcome it to a certain degree but then there are the days I have my set backs.

It’s not wrong to feel discouraged but it’s how you and I handle it that determines whether we are going to let the trial or situation affect us adversely or if we’ll be overcomers.

David also had his ups and downs as he shares in the Psalms – There were times when he was full of praise.

“I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.”

“O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth forever.”

But then there were other days…

“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee.”

“Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble.”

“My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.”

 

David Playing the Lyre as He Watches His Sheep I Samuel 16:11

That’s something we can all do.

We can pour out our hurts to the Lord. We need a listening ear and who better than our Creator?

Who better than He is going to really truly understand and be able to help us? The times when our emotions bring us low and hurts and grievances abound is truly the time to call upon the Lord.

young-girl-praying

We have a very large puddle in our back yard from all the rain that we have been getting the last few days and…

major rain puddle

…our cat was sitting on the very edge of the puddle taking a drink. I was thinking of how there was no possible way he would ever be able to drink that whole puddle and I was reminded of this quote from Bro. William Branham.

Could you imagine a little fish about that long, out in the middle of the ocean saying, “I better drink of this water sparingly; I might run out someday”? That’s nothing compared with the blessings God’s got for you.  Neither could you “off-surp” the blessings that God’s got laid up from you if you live ten million years here on earth. There’ll still be plenty of blessings for you left, for He is the inexhaustible fountain of Life. –W.M. Branham

 

So God wants to bless me abundantly. Isn’t that a wonderful realization?

Romans 8:28 says,

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

 

God never promised that things would always be pleasant but He did promise that He would work all for my good. The discouragements and disappointments are the things we see when things aren’t clear but the bigger picture tells me that God is working it ALL (every bit of it) for my good.

 

In my Study Bible I read…

“Our troubles can be helpful because they…

1) humble us,

2) wean us from the allurements of the world and drive us back to God,

3) vitalize our prayers,

4) allow us to experience more of God’s faithfulness,

5) make us more dependent upon God,

6) encourage us to submit to God’ purpose for our lives, and

7) make us more compassionate toward others in trouble.”

Can you too see the truth of this?

We don’t want to “nurse” our hurts. There is no growth in that but rest can be found in knowing he wants to bless us and is working everything for our good even if we can’t see it. And just like David wrote, the God of heaven “hath heard my voice and my supplications”.

We can be victorious through our trials but our reaction and what we do in those times that we are tried will determine which outcome we will have – victory or defeat.

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 15:57

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15 Comments

  • Courtney Horst

    August 20, 2014 at 11:49 am Reply

    Thank you for this. I needed it as my “emotions have been taking me low” the past few days. Praise the Lord for His Mindfulness.

    • Elisabeth

      August 22, 2014 at 5:55 am Reply

      Hope you’re feeling better, Courtney. We ladies are emotional creatures already and it doesn’t help when our hormones get depleted. I think that actually can be our problem many times.

  • Lucille

    August 20, 2014 at 2:47 pm Reply

    Love this, Elisabeth, and so true. I have always found that the hard times and seeing how my Lord brings me through them and what He accomplished “in it” has made me to rest and trust in Him. Still…difficult times aren’t fun and many times very hard on us, but we know He didn’t call weaklings into His great Army and we are still in training for that glorious and perfect Land where we’ll live and reign with Him. So thankful this place is only temporary…but also so thankful for the times He blesses us and gives us a time of Oasis to get strong again for the next battle that’ll come up. His mercies are new every morning. That scripture gets more real as time goes on for me! Love ya all!!!!

  • Mary

    August 20, 2014 at 8:52 pm Reply

    This is very timely for me! Thanks for sharing! Brings tears to my eyes just thinking how a God was so faithful to bring me out of a difficult trying few days recently. I will say a prayer for you more often in case you are experiencing one of those days in the future. :). I love how you mentioned that we will have good and bad days and how it shows us that in the Bible. Not as a crutch but that we are human and some seem to forget that. :). God bless friend!

    • Elisabeth

      August 22, 2014 at 6:03 am Reply

      Mary, thanks for your prayers. I’m certainly in need of them… often. 🙂 You are a good example to me of a steady and strong individual but I guess we all have our highs and lows, it’s just part of living. But it isn’t fun sometimes.

      “Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it. “

  • Lily

    August 21, 2014 at 6:21 am Reply

    Praying you have a peace filled day today. This is a quote that God has used to encourage me lately. It may not fit your situation at all and if not, please forgive me. So many times, I try to figure situations out instead of letting God take care of the problem. This quote reminds me to put it in God’s hands and let Him do it. “If somebody talks about you, and you talk back about them, God can’t fight your battle; you’re fighting it yourself. Just let loose and let Him do it. Just commit it to Him. The greatest weapon that I know of of a Christian today, is a committal to God. When you can’t do nothing about it, just commit it to Him, and God will take care of it.” Love and appreciate you!

    • Elisabeth

      August 22, 2014 at 6:07 am Reply

      That’s a beautiful quote, Lily. Thanks for sharing it. Don’t worry about it not fitting my situation. If it doesn’t today, it will tomorrow. haha I surely appreciate you, too.

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