There is a plague sweeping the country which is more pervasive even than AIDS. It's not the Beijing flu, or cancer, or even the common cold. This plague, however, can be just as deadly as the most dreaded disease known to man. This plague is called discouragement.
Many things are true about discouragement. At least three things, however, make it such a potent problem.
One characteristic which makes discouragement such a dreaded problem is that it is universal. In other words, discouragement strikes everyone. None of us are immune to discouragement. Everyone you have ever known has been discouraged at one time or another. Wrack your brain as you may, and you cannot think of anyone who has avoided discouragement. Young or old, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, black or white, red or yellow, advantaged or disadvantaged, non-Christian or Christian, everyone gets discouraged.
A second characteristic of discouragement is that it is recurring. Being discouraged once does not give you an immunity to the disease. You can be discouraged over and over again. In fact, you can even be discouraged by the fact that you are discouraged a lot. There is no antibody which can be injected to give you immunity. Discouragement comes and goes and comes back again.
A third characteristic of discouragement is that it is highly contagious. Discouragement spreads by even casual contact. People can become discouraged because you are discouraged. You can become discouraged because other people are discouraged.
You might be familiar with the story of the man standing on a bridge prepared to jump to his death. A passerby came along, stopped his car and attempted to talk some sense into the man. He asked the man why he was going to jump. In his total discouragement, the man replied that there were too many things wrong in this world to continue living. The passerby tried to reason with the man, saying that things weren't as bleak as they looked. For ten or fifteen minutes the conversation went on -- and finally they both jumped! Discouragement is contagious.
Because discouragement can be such an insidious problem, even among Christians, we should understand what the Bible has to say about discouragement and how to deal with it. Let's consider some of the causes for discouragement and also some of the cures as outlined in a passage of Scripture from the book of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah, you may recall, was the leader of the Jews who had returned to Israel from Babylon to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. God had given him a vision to rebuild what had been torn down. They were excited initially. They began the work with great anticipation and joy. It says of them that the people had a mind to work. And they worked diligently. It says about their work that they built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height.
The work was going well, the people were excited, and the wall was slowly going up. Then something happened. The people encountered some difficult times. And when the going got tough the people became discouraged.
You see, where God is at work, the enemy is also at work. Rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem was certainly no exception to this. Where God is at work, Satan stirs up agitators to attempt to block the work of God. We read in verses 7 and 8: Now it came about when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. And all of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it.
When the enemies of God's work began to come against the people of God, the result was that the people were greatly discouraged. The same thing happens to us today. Often, when the enemy comes against us, we become discouraged. It is important to know this, and to recognize it for what it is. If we understand just how this discouragement comes, then we might also understand how we can deal with this discouragement in a positive way. Discouragement will come. The challenge we have is to know the signs of its coming and the actions we must take to overcome it. We need to understand both the causes and the cures for discouragement.
Fatigue is a major cause of discouragement. After the enemies of the rebuilding of the wall had begun to cause a disturbance among the people, we begin to see fatigue setting in. In verse 10 we read that in Judah it was said, "The strength of the burden bearers is failing . . . ."
The people who had been working on the wall had been working for a long time. They were worn out. And now this opposition had come which was causing their physical fatigue to become more acute. When you are physically drained, it is very easy to become discouraged at the slightest problem.
It is also interesting to notice just when these people became fatigued and discouraged. Verse 6 says that the wall was built to half its height. They were half-way through. Many times when we start a new project the first half goes quickly and well. Why? Because we are excited about accomplishing the goal. It is new and novel, but when the newness wears off and the work becomes routine and boring, then it's easy to become fatigued. And when you are tired it is easy to become discouraged and to begin to think that you will never get finished. This is what happened to Judah. Verse 10 says: "The strength of the burden bearers is failing . . . and we ourselves are unable to rebuild the wall." They were ready to give up. These are the same people who were described in verse 6 as those who had a mind to work.
You can probably think of some project you have undertaken where you have had a similar experience. It might have been some project at work, or some project around your house. About half-way through the project you began to think that you would never finish. Perhaps it was taking much longer than you thought, which is not unusual. Perhaps you began to rationalize and even develop arguments for why you shouldn't finish. Maybe you even began to think that it wasn't God's will that you finish. Many people fail to complete many things because of that kind of fatigue and discouragement. This is especially true when things are going wrong in the process. When you knock the paint over, or break the glass, or blow up the microwave you are trying to install, it can be discouraging. This is especially true when you are tired physically.
Frustration is another reason why we become discouraged. In verse 10 we also read that the people were saying, "There is much rubbish; and we ourselves are unable to rebuild the wall." They became discouraged because they were so frustrated with the situation.
They were talking about the rubbish that was in their way. I'm sure they were encountering old broken rocks, dirt and dried out mortar, and other debris that were underfoot. This junk was everywhere. And it was frustrating.
Just as they lost sight of their goal, so can we lose sight of our goal when we have so much junk in our lives with which to deal. Do you have a lot of junk that is in the way in your life?
What is this junk? The rubbish in your life may be the sins of wrong deeds, or wrong thoughts or attitudes which you are unwilling to let go. Or the rubbish may be simply the many trivial things that waste your time, consume your energy, and spend your money. The junk or rubbish is simply anything which gets in our way, that keeps us from accomplishing the truly important goals in our lives. And the rubbish does one critical thing -- it frustrates us. That is why we need to deal with the rubbish in our lives. But we need first to understand that all this junk is a problem.
In Hebrews 12:1 we are told that we should "lay aside every encumbrance." Having a lot of rubbish in our lives is an encumbrance or weight. It slows us down. It trips us up. It causes us to stumble. It can make us fall. And it's very frustrating. It is like trying to run through a briar patch -- there is simply no easy way to do it. The result is that we spend all of our attention and energy on the rubbish and never accomplish the goal. Frustration is a prime cause of discouragement.
Another cause of discouragement is fear. The enemies of the Lord's work had struck fear in the hearts of God's people. Nehemiah himself saw their fear. They were afraid of the enemies and as a result felt like they could not succeed. Remember they said in verse 10 "And we ourselves are unable to rebuild the wall." They were ready to give up. They were afraid they were going to be killed by the enemy. They felt like they were unable to finish what they had started in rebuilding the wall. And as a result they were very discouraged.
Fear is discouraging. When you are afraid, how do you respond? Well, sometimes it makes you just want to give up. This is the same feeling that these Jews had. Because of their fear, they were ready to quit. They thought they were not strong enough to finish because they could not resist the enemy. If we feel like the task it too large and the resources are too meager, sometimes we will react the same way. If we do, however, then we will surely fail. These Jews could have quit. Had they done so, they would have surely failed, and they would not have accomplished what was clearly God's purpose for their lives.
We must be careful not to let fear overcome us. We must be aware that when we are fearful we are also vulnerable to discouragement. This is a tactic of the enemy. It is one of his chief strategies in defeating us.
So, we have seen three things that can bring discouragement into our lives. Fatigue, frustration, and fear can all lead to discouragement. Be on your guard when you encounter them. Where they are, discouragement is not far behind.
But what can we do about discouragement? We have seen some of the causes. What are some of the cures?
One of the first things Nehemiah did, and one of the things we need to do, was to reorganize. In verse 13 Nehemiah said, "Then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears, and bows."
Remember, they had already completed building half the wall. Nehemiah had already organized the people and they had accomplished half of what they were trying to do. Now, however, a new situation had arisen. This new situation required a change in organization. So Nehemiah reorganized the people to be effective in their task.
When we are discouraged, one of the things we can do is to reorganize our priorities. You can look at your life. You can adopt a change in approach instead of becoming so discouraged that you quit.
If you have a problem then reorganize. Do you have a problem in your marriage? Well, don't quit! Change your approach. Adopt a new attitude. Do you have a problem in your business? Don't give up! Change your priorities. Do you have a problem in your walk with God? Don't stop following Jesus! Reorganize your prayer life. Surrender that area in your life you have been holding back. Perhaps you're frustrated by all the rubbish in your life. Reorganize it. Get rid of some of it. The point is -- don't give up! Don't be overcome by discouragement. Do something about it!
In order to overcome discouragement we must remember the Lord. Listen to what Nehemiah said in verse 14: when I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: "Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome."
How do you remember the Lord? What do you remember about Him? Well, you remember first that He is there! You see, you can be very discouraged when you think you are all alone in the situation. But God is there! He is there whether you realize it or not, but it helps to realize it!
Next, you remember that God is great and awesome. God is sufficient to deal with your discouragement and with the situation you face. This is something of which you must remind yourself. This is what it means to remember the Lord.
So, when you are discouraged, you must turn your attention from your discouragement to the One who is able to do something about your situation. God has been faithful to you in the past. He is faithful to you today. And He has promised to be faithful to you in the future. Remember the Lord. Remember His promises. Remember His goodness. Remember His power. Our God is an awesome God! Remember Him.
Finally, you must wage a battle against discouragement. You must be active and fight discouragement. Notice what Nehemiah says in verse 14: "Fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses."
Nehemiah was saying that they should not give up, but fight. He was saying that they should not simply yield to discouragement, but that they should resist with all their might. He is calling them to action. And this is the same call we need to heed if we would win the war against discouragement.
It is clear from the Scriptures that we, as believers, are in a spiritual battle. We are engaged in a supernatural conflict. Our enemy is the devil and his followers. Satan and his demonic spirits are committed to do everything possible to discourage and defeat us. We need to do precisely what Nehemiah encouraged the people to do. We must resist.
This is precisely what we are told to do in James 4:7. There we are told to "Resist the devil." We are to resist his work in our midst. We are to resist his negative thoughts. We are to resist all of the discouragement that he tries to bring into our lives. We must fight the fight of faith and stand firm against the work of the enemy in our midst. Only in this way will we find success in our battle against discouragement.
While fatigue, frustration, and fear can bring discouragement, reorganizing our priorities, remembering our Lord, and resisting the devil can bring us through discouragement. If we will apply these principles, God will give us the victory.
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