DEACTIVATE DISCOURAGEMENT – 2

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. – Joshua 1:9

REFERENCE
Joshua 1:9

Discouragement as we learnt from yesterday is one of the devil’s potent weapons against us, to dampen our spirits and make us become hopeless about life especially as we approach the end of the first half of the year. Today we will look at WAYS to deactivate discouragement.

The first step to deactivating discouragement is to have a positive perception – Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you interpret it. You can look at your situation as a half empty glass or a half full glass. Choose how you interpret events around you. The year may not have panned out the way you expected, but take the positives from what the year gave you and be thankful. (Psalm 103:2).

Secondly, get away from cynics, people who are always negative about your situation and the prospects of things turning around for good. Expunge their voices from your mind. Negative people will infect you with discouragement, so move away from them. Instead, surround yourself with faith-boosters – positive people who are firm believers in the Word. (Proverbs 27:17).

One of the effects of discouragement is to make you want to quit on life. So the third thing you need to do is fight back – fight the urge to quit! Encourage yourself in the Lord. Be your own greatest preacher – tell yourself what no other person will and charge yourself. Keep on keeping on!

Fourthly, trust God’s heart – understand that God has your good at heart and is committed to your success. He is Alpha and Omega. He starts from the end to the beginning. So, before you started, God had already set the end. He only allowed it to commence because it has an end. Your desires may not have come as you planned in your calendar; that doesn’t mean they will not come in the future. Trust God to keep to His promises in your life despite the odds against you.

Although Satan initiates and throws the weapon of discouragement at people, it is entirely your choice to allow it in your life. No one, not even Satan can force the feeling of discouragement on you if you choose not to allow it; feelings are fickle, and so it will pass.

SCRIPTURE PHOTO

ADDITIONAL STUDY
I Samuel 30:6, Jeremiah 29:11-14 & Proverbs 23:18.

PRAYER POINTS

+ Ask God to teach you to fight back – voices of negativity, fears, doubts, and feelings of discouragement.

+ Ask for grace to endure to the end, to go the long haul and for strength in your inner man.