Don't Get Discouraged

The past two nights I have read about discouragement in my devotion book, InTouch. It is a little magazine published by InTouch ministries, the publisher is Dr. Charles Stanley. I thought the words were very helpful and I would like to share a little piece out of it.

The Trap of Discouragement
Do you feel stuck in discouragement? At some point everyone experiences dashed hopes. Disappointment- an emotional response to a failed expectation- is a normal initial reaction. Allowing it to linger it can turn into discouragement, which hovers like a dense cloud. The circumstances that trigger these emotions may be unavoidable, but the way we respond is a choice. We can either let sadness overwhelm our souls or face the situation with courage and bring it before the Lord, because he is the one to help us.

Living in discouragement will divide the mind, making it hard to focus on anything besides our pain. then as anger becomes habitual, we'll look for someone to blame-whether it be God, people around us or ourself. Frustration that isn't handled well may develop into depression which in turn can estrange us from others- people do not enjoy the company of someone who is bitter and defeated. This isolation leads to a low self-esteem. Also, in the fog of discouragement, we can make poor decisions based on crushed emotions instead of truth. Though we will face disappointment from time to time, we are not to wallow in it. Instead, God wants us to trust him with everything- even our unmet expectations and deepest sadness. Remember, there is divine purpose for everything he allows.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good- Romans 8:28

I hope this was an encouragement to you! The next part of the devotion was about how to defeat the discouragement, so I will post about it soon! Have a great day! :)