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Monday, January 10, 2011

SELF ENCOURAGEMENT WORKS



By Temiville

2011 came with so much excitement. Everyone at the Church service seemed so jubilant and ecstatic. The New Year was now here with us! Thank you Lord!

Later on that Saturday, the 1st of January, a friend and I were having a discussion about how 2011 meant we were now officially getting 'old'. I started the whole moaning episode but she was quick to let me know I had nothing to worry about since she was turning 30. That immediately kept me mute.

There are so many times when we go about trading stories of woes with our friends and basically, whoever has the saddest tale 'wins'. This has habitually turned our way of encouraging ourselves. However, what does the Bible say about encouragement? I don't think merchandizing sad stories does anything to help soothe our pains in any way, what it only enables us to achieve is enormous pity that only adds more to our worries. Let's observe the story of David in 1 Samuel 30 and see exactly how he handled discouragement with the Word.


There was a time David's family and city (Ziklag) were raided by the Amelekites. He lost everything. His two wives were taken captive and even his men considered stoning him in their anger because their families were taken away too. The Bible says David wept until he could weep no more. So what did he do thereafter? Did he swap tales of woe? Did he complain? Did he throw a tantrum and shore up discouragement with unconvincing excuses? No! He encouraged himself in the Lord, 1 Samuel 30:6. He leaned on God for wisdom on how to handle the situation and God indeed came through for him, which consequently made David to end up recovering ALL that had been carted by the Amelekites.

When discouragement comes, we have to remember the source. It is always from the devil. Never will God send discouragement our way. 'Never' have I said! When we trust in God, we run to Him for help. We remember His promise that the thoughts He has towards you are plans of good and not of evil to give you an expected end. This means that in the journey of life, there might be storms but we know that all things are working together for our good. This realisation makes us rest in the Lord and in His promises, knowing that He is not a man that should ever lie.

Discouragement is a sign of lack of faith in God. It only shows that we are moved by the things that we see which goes against what II Corinthians 5:7 tells us (we walk by faith and not by sight). Whenever depression sets in, we need to strengthen our faith in God. Whilst it is okay to feel sad and cry, we have to learn to snap out of it.

How exactly do we build our faith? Paul, in Romans 10:17, stated that: "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God". We build our faith, therefore, by diving into God's word. We refer to His promises which are able to build us up. We hold on to them and from there, our faith is made strong. That way, we can easily be built up. I can easily give numerous instances of where this has worked for me. Over and over again, I realise that holding on to the Word of God yields great fruits.

Some of the promises that keep me going are:

·         Jeremiah 29:1:- For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.


·         Isaiah 55:12:- For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap [their] hands.

·         Psalm 23:6:- Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Which ones encourage you the most?

No matter where discouragement seems to be taking a heavy toll on you, you need to remember that God's Words are yea and amen and always stand sure. Yours could come from looking for a job, seeking for direction in one area or the other, needing healing for a family member or even yourself. Whatever the case is, I pray you always have the strength to keep on holding onto God's promises which can never fail even as we have just started this New Year.

God bless you.

Temiville.xoxo

 

·         Temitayo is a fellow blogger who blogs about the various situations that have come to define who humans are and how she, when faced with some of those circumstances, tends to tackle them. One thing about the way she blogs is not in the regularity of her creative posts, it is with the way she mixes her personal experiences with whatsoever theory she is expounding to her numerous readers that attracts attention - That's just why I subscribed to her blog. She muses under the name Temiville on a blog called Caramel Latte Addict.


 

 

2 comments:

  1. I'm getting ready to write a blog post on encouragement and found this. Thank you so much for a needed word of encouragement. Life is so unreasonably hard sometimes, but I often remember Hebrews 12:2:
    "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

    Jesus was able to endure great suffering not because he was so strong or because it was what he was supposed to do - but "for the joy set before him". So I know that whatever I am going through (surely nothing so bad as the cross), I can endure because there is joy promised to me as well. I saw a movie recently where one of the characters said, "everything works out in the end. If everything hasn't worked out, it's not the end."

    Blessings,
    Rebecca Trotter

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  2. @Rebecca. I am so happy this post was able to help you. Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to comment. Your comment is also inspiring. I checked your blog and I found it so innovative. Do come here again soon. Thank you.

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