Discouragement and Encouragement

 

Writing can be a lonely endeavor.

 It’s not a team sport with lots of friends to cheer you on. It’s done in the quietness, the stillness of solitude; the prefect landscape for the enemy to attack. Discouragement is his most used weapon. Because as humans we long and need human interaction, the enemy knows that without it we are vulnerable. So when we are alone with our thoughts, mentally or possibly even physically as we try to separate ourselves from the business of life to concentrate on our craft, the enemy is there.

What does scripture say?

In 1 Peter – Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. He is waiting, knowing we are vulnerable, and he has his weapons ready, for the attack.


But take heart, my friend, we have a defense. 

 1 Corinthians 3:16 says

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? We are never alone, my friend, God is always present.

When friends don’t understand, when mothers and fathers scoff, husbands and wives break our hearts with uncaring remarks, when sisters and brothers tell you to do something “useful”, remember, God has given you this talent and He has asked you to use it. You must do as He asks.

I am not saying to be in defiance of the authorities placed in your life by the Creator, i.e. parents, pastors, husbands, etc; I am saying that you cannot let discouragement deter you from the calling God has on your life. As Matthew tells us But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

There lies the key to it all.

If we are seeking God daily, hourly, moment by moment, then He will be so present in our lives that the enemy will have no foothold to enter in. But all too often we skip that quiet time with the Lord because we’re too busy. We fill our lives with many things and don’t have time for Him, and then we’re unprepared when the enemy attacks.

Did we spend time watching TV last night? Did we have time to read or go to dinner or go shopping? We seem to find time to do the things we want to do but we can’t find time to spend with the one whom we say we love more than life itself. Where are our priorities? If we look at our time we will find them. We will see clearly what we find time for and what we cannot seem to find time for; this displays our true priorities.  

A scary thought, huh? I sure don’t want to evaluate what I spend my time on. I don’t want my priorities revealed in the harsh light of truth; I want to keep them hidden in the business of my life so I can keep up the facade of excuses. But if I truly want to be strong in the face of adversity, to stand against the enemy’s attacks, then I have to evaluate my time and my priorities, then make some tough changes. Someone once said insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. How true. We keep doing the same things and complain when what we do brings discouragement.
 

 

 

Well, we all know the answer to the problem: we can choose to ignore it or we can act on it. 

 

What will your choice be?

 

Which road will you choose?

 

If we want to be strong writers, or whatever He has called us to be, we must first seek the counsel of the wisest of all, the Great Encourager, The Author and Perfector of our Faith.

Have you faced discouragement this week?

What are you going to do about it?

Images courtesy of digidreamgrafix & Stuart Miles @FreeDigitalPhotos.net