There are days I feel discouraged.
Days when nothing I do seems to matter and I wonder why I bother.
Days when what I think are God’s plans for me don’t make sense and I question if I misunderstood.
Days I know the enemy is working on my thinking, and yet, I can’t seem to stop the attack which leads to self-doubt.
Discourage—to deprive of courage, hope, or confidence; dishearten; dispirit. (dictionary.com)
When I feel discouraged, I feel like giving up.
God knew His people would have days like this—days they felt discouraged and ready to give up. But He promised He would be with them.
Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you. Deuteronomy 31:8 NLT
This same promise is for us today.
“This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 NLT
God knows there will be days when we will feel discouraged.
When we don’t know what His plans are and nothing seems to make sense.
When each day holds pain and sadness and we want to give up.
When the enemy’s attacks are too powerful and we don’t have the strength and courage to fight back.
God knows our feeling of discouragement, but He says don’t lose hope. He promises to be with us, to go ahead of us, and to strengthen us.
Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10 NLT
So, what can we do when we find ourselves discouraged in life?
1) Remind ourselves that He is God, and we are not. As much as I want to understand and know what’s going to happen, I don’t have to. If He wants me to know, He will tell me. In His time.
2) Pray and remember His promises to us. Read Scripture and say His promises out loud.
3) Ask ourselves what other factors might be contributing to our discouragement. When I’m overtired, hungry, or sick, everything feels worse and seems more out of control. Sometimes the best thing I can do (for everyone) is take a nap. The situation may be the same when I wake up, but I may be able to view it differently.
4) Trust God and praise Him. Focus on Him and not the mess around us. And then praise Him again.
Why am I discouraged?
Why am I restless?
I trust you!
And I will praise you again
because you help me,
and you are my God. Psalm 42:5-6a CEV
When we stay close to God, we are less vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks. And the enemy loves to see us discouraged. But it’s up to us if we give him that satisfaction or power over us.
Excellent advice re: discouragement Laura. Thank you.
No 3 is one of the main reasons I find myself discouraged, i.e. tiredness.
I have not been well recently – had a really bad chest cold (which I thought had cleared) so I went back to work but last night I woke up coughing again at 3am. I sat up all night in the living room reading my Bible as I couldn’t stop coughing lying down.
I am feeling rather tired as a result today and know that discouragement is more likely during these times when sleep is affected. II can’t go back to sleep during the day unfortunately, but I have rested.
Please pray for hubby and myself this month… towards the end of the month is a difficult time, and needing physical strength to endure.
Thank you Laura.
Hi Wendy,
Sorry to hear you’ve been ill lately. I agree with you, being sick plus being overtired quickly makes me discouraged. I will be praying for you and your husband.
Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment!
In Christ,
Laura
Beautiful words of truth, Laura. Thanks for this. It’s timely, and much needed.
Thank you Rosann!
There are days when I feel discouraged. Thankfully, there are less of them though. I keep a journal and so I often go back and see how God has been so faithful. This provides me with hope and I feel more energized to continue.
Great advice. Thank you for your words of encouragement to me on Heart Choices and for the book recommendation. I checked it out and think it would be good.
Blessings and love,
Debbie
Thank you Debbie! I agree with you. Looking back to see God’s work and faithfulness in my life really helps in moving forward.
God bless,
Laura
Thank you for this wonderfully encouraging post on discouragement. What good advice!!
Thank you for linking up over at WholeHearted Home this past week. I am going to feature you tomorrow as one of my favorite posts from this past week.
Judith, thank you so much for your kind words and the honor of being in your favorite posts for the week. I’m always so pleased to see you’ve visited here or on my blog.
God bless,
Laura
Thats what exactly I feel right now..discouraged for my life…but you have lifted me up to be strong…thank you.
During the last two months things have been rough financially and i just want to give up. Every time i hear of someone dying i get so jealous. The struggle is over no more worrying about things on earth. They are at peace which is what i desire.
I’m feeling very discouraged today. I buried my Dad this weekend after his death and cremation months ago. I stayed with a family member. She and her man are so happy and have their lives all together. They share life together. I love that for her, after all she’s been through, she deserves to be happy. All the people attending the funeral were seemingly so happy with their lives. I am happy to see them so happy. With that said, it made me realize just how unhappy I am with my own life. I have a husband and grown children and aging grandchildren. I guess I should just count my blessings. Hubby is disabled, we rarely talk or share anything. He doesn’t do anything to help me even the things he can do, he leaves for me to do. I’ve gotten used to that but I want more happiness from life. I wanted a mate, not just a house person using the master suite while I am in the guest room. He smokes, has the tv on all night, talks, plays on his phone so I got no sleep. I moved of the bedroom over a year ago. If he would be more considerate of my need for a good nights sleep, I would move back into the bedroom. He apparently doesn’t want it bad enough. My daughter and her husband don’t like him and want me to move out. They never come over and they live just a few minutes away. I’m without a job for over a year so can’t move. When I try to talk with anyone about my situation, I feel like I am a wet blanket for them. I don’t want to drag anyone down or make them worry. I just want to be happy. I pray for relief from my unhappiness. I’m almost 64. Is it too late for me to be happy in this lifetime? I’m feeling bummed out. I feel so unnecessary. Just want to go away until I can figure this out.
I keep pushing been praying for wisdom for finances asking God for a breakthrough I think over his blessings and he blesses me every time,I get discouraged I call out to God for I know he’s there ..Trust in him and his timing it’s hard at times but he’s working it all out for our good