I believe we are all vulnerable to discouragement but I also believe it's what we do and how we choose to react with that discouragement that makes all the difference in the outcomes we experience. Life is filled with obstacles and challenges that come without warning, and even if they somehow have a way of giving you a heads up that they're on their way into your life, that part of us that is still imperfect and human can easily forget if just for a moment those moments spent in prayer and meditation on the Word of God, or even that great message on a Sunday morning. Life comes like a wave in the ocean and it just rises high with all it's might and splashes upon our tea party and it can be easy to feel discouragement in that moment.
Since it is without a doubt that I do not have the power to know what life is going to throw at me next and I cannot control the coming and going of the ocean waves, the pouring rains, or the moments of hardship, I remind myself that the moment I realize the emotions changing or the situation getting difficult, then it is my responsibility to remember who I am and to who I belong.
It is necessary that I remember that as a daughter of a God who has promised to be with me and give me help in the midst of the battles in my life, I must not and cannot give power to discouragement or hopelessness. When I begin to remember that my God is greater than my situation, discouragement loses momentum. When I declare inwardly with confidence that the reality of who God is in my life is my purpose for each new step and my next breath for life, my mindset and my view of my reality changes because I cannot and will not move based on what is going right or what is falling apart in my life. God has promised to walk with me in my newness of life and He has promised to make a way where there is no way, when there is no way out and when I find myself losing my way in the storm. When I feel like I'm drowning, and God knows I have felt like I am sinking and sinking quickly many times, when I find myself like I can't kick my legs up and comes up and out of sinking in the ocean of my life, I remember He is the God that walks on water and He speaks into my storms and invites me to come up and walk on the waves with Him.
Discouragement comes when my children are sick, when they are sad and I sense their brokenness and I don't have all the answers. It comes when I see and know I can be and do more but I find myself stuck in a place I should never have been in my life but I am here because sometimes circumstances leave us where we would have never imagined being. Discouragement comes when I feel stuck and I can't help others or move forward from my current situation. It comes but it does not have to stay.
God's word is a fountain of life and help for every dark and difficult situation in my life. God's Word has a promise, a sentence and a reminder that there is more to my life and that I still have a purpose because He still has a plan. He has a plan for my children. God has a beautiful plan for my children that they cannot even fathom but He is true and He is faithful and I believe I will witness that great moment when He does something amazing in the midst of their sickness, their struggle and their pain. God shines and will continue to shine when their path becomes foggy and dark. He will be their light because I am holding on to His promise to be with them always.
Yes! There is a promise of life and encouragement if our desire is to find the hope left on each page of scripture. There is hope for the heart that wants to cry but tears seem impossible because pain has set in and it seems hope is gone. Your days and my days of hope are not over. God is still present and able to hear our prayers and hear the words in our hearts and minds that we can only think but at times it just hurts and we cannot even get on out knees. When discouragement comes, let us push forth images of His power and love in our minds and let us sing out to Him those songs we know will draw His presence near to us.
Be encouraged and know that God is for you and with you and never against you! Hold on and continue to hope and believe because if we give up, then prayer ceases and we begin to die a little each day. Hold on to those bible verses and those messages that remind you of who you are in Christ and how God sees you and how He thinks of you. Let us never give up for the Lord is calling us to draw near to Him and we will see the great and wonderful things He will do when we choose to wait on Him and believe in His love and in His Word.
By Angeline M Duran Santiago
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