Discouragement: What to Do

I recently found myself at the end of the work day feeling very discouraged. Something that I had hoped would happen that day had not, and the feelings of disappointment were overwhelming. I left work, drove home, walked right into the house and grabbed my Bible. I didn’t really know what to do with these feelings. After all, as Christians, we’re not supposed to be discouraged, right? We’re supposed to have the joy of the Lord. And I did, but I also was hurt and a little angry and somewhat in disbelief. And at the moment, those feelings were surfacing much more in my demeanor than the joy of the Lord. I wasn’t quite sure what to do about that, but I knew where the answer could be found.

There was another thought pattern that was bothering me, as well. I knew I had to be at church just a couple of hours after I arrived home. Sadly, I felt an overwhelming need to "deal with" my feelings before I got to church. I didn't want people there to see me like that. What? That makes no sense! None at all! Of all places on the face of the earth, I should feel most comfortable taking off the mask, so to speak, at church. That should be a place I don't have to put on a happy face and smile. Now, I don't mean that churches should be full of people who are sad and/or complaining all the time, but I do feel that it should be a place where people are comfortable sharing their struggles with one another...and that should result in prayer, right then and there. Anyway...

As I dove into God's word, I found great solace in Psalm 34. The words of the psalmist reminded me that my Lord will deliver me from my fears. I learned that the Lord’s ears hear my cry for help. I was relieved to hear once again that I serve a God who can deliver me from my troubles. My favorite verse, verse 18, echoes a verse in Psalm 147. “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Most importantly, the psalmist’s words reminded me to “taste and see that the Lord is good!” I had forgotten to really see how good my Lord is. I realized that I had put my hope in something other than my heavenly Father that day. I realized that I had put something else on the throne of my heart.

That was the root of my discouragement. I had put my focus and my hope on something that was bound to disappoint. I had to stop beating myself up for feeling that way and surrender my heart and my will, once again, to God. It really is a daily struggle and too often I'm scared to admit that. I guess that's all a part of being authentic, though.