Much of life is lived with gap—an
expectation gap. The people who are closest to us expect things from us which give
us pressure and make life kind of challenging, and at times discouraging to
live. To a great degree, discouragement is inevitable. We face it in a daily
basis. But, what do you do when you are discouraged? Let’s find out what Genesis 29 teaches us about
discouragements through the life of Leah, the woman whom Jacob (son of Isaac
who is son of Abraham) married first.
Jacob
loved Rachel (Leah’s sister) more than Leah (Gen 29:30). Leah became pregnant
and gave birth to a son, and many more. But Leah wasn’t contented because Jacob’s
heart is fixed on Rachel’s.
Lesson learned: It is a very
dangerous thing to put your hope in a person.
But
if you were on Leah’s position, what are you gonna do with those little
discouragements that you let crept into your mind that allows you to take off your
focus on God, and can later damage you? Later on I realized that Leah wanted
Jacob’s love more than God’s unconditional love. Yet, even if her focus was not
entirely on God, He has seen her misery and was with her. What happened to Leah
was full of grace. God gave her influence. In life, the more influence God
gives you, the more critics you are going to have. So, you’ve got to have a
game plan for how you handle when you are face with discouragements.
In
Joshua 1:9, God commanded us to be strong and courageous, to not be terrified
and discouraged for the Lord our God will be with us wherever we go. And since
we cannot live on last time and next time, we better live this time.
Easier said than done, isn’t it? I agree that the hardest part on following Jesus is not understanding what to do but
doing what we understand. Even Oswald Chambers uttered “Even the smallest bit of obedience opens heaven, and the deepest
truths of God immediately become yours. Yet God will never reveal more truth
about Himself to you, until you have obeyed what you know already.”
Let’s
take a look at these easy-to-remember and simple-to-live-with tips directly
brought to us by one of the well-known preachers of the Gospel, Pastor Furtick
of Elevation Church. Here is the game plan you should have:
LOOK BACK and rehearse the faithfulness of God in your life. The
enemy doesn’t want you to remember the times when God comes through for you.
But you can if only you will start appreciating and recognizing the goodness He
has done in the midst of everything you’ve got things messy and wrong.
LOOK UP and constantly remind yourself of who God is and remember
His promises. Isaiah 43:2 enlightens ‘When
you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you pass through the
rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will
not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze (NIV).’ When you remember
that God loves you, you can move forward because the God of the universe is on
your side. Whatever courage is left inside of you, take into account that courage
comes from love, never from fear. Fear makes us retreat, love causes us to
advance.
LOOK OUT. You can’t stop that chatterer (the enemy) from talking
but what you can do is to feed it. Discontentment will feed the tattler faster
than anything in your life.
LOOK BEYOND while being grateful by finding someone that you can
help. Giving of yourself, the Lord will give back to you (Luke 6:38).
LOOK AROUND for people who can pour courage in your life. People
who can walk with you in difficulty and in your disappointments, are necessary.
LOOK IN. Sometimes, the only person who can encourage you is
yourself. You have to have an arsenal of weapons that you can pull through like
music, attending to church, speaking the truth out loud, and most importantly
the Scripture. Several are Isaiah 40
that talks about weakness; 1 Timothy 4:12
about position,foolishness; 2 Timothy
1:9-10 in purpose and talent; Psalm
1:2, 2 Corinthians 9:8, Philippians 4:13 when you can’t do
things.
Accordingly,
start with what you understand and trust that God is going to help you with the
next steps. Yesterday is gone and you can’t control what happens next time
either but THIS TIME, in that situation, your situation does not need to
improve for your gratitude to increase.
Wisdom taken: Elevation
Church’s series title Crash the Chatterbox, Week 5
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