Discouragement vs Encouragement

Discouragement vs Encouragement-As time goes on, more and more I find myself
struggling with discouragement. I imagine it is the same for most Christians
who get an exciting promise from God but then have to wait. And wait and then
wait some more. If we are not careful, the discouragement will take over and
rob us of the promised blessing. In myself, I have detected some ominous
signs of discouragement.

One sign of discouragement is fatigue. I definitely qualify for that one. I
am just plain tired! Most times now, I feel too tired to do much of
anything. A lot of times now , I even feel to use my speech board is too much effort. Unless it
is with somebody who I know uses it well.

Another sign of discouragement that I have noticed in myself is frustration.
I have always had to deal with plenty of frustration but, lately, it has
gotten a lot worse. The least little thing frustrates and upsets me. My
speech board is often the cause of it. Before, I had a lot more patience if
people didn't get what I was trying to say. Now, though, unless it is
important, I give up quickly before I lose it.

I have a lot of negative emotions right now. Probably another sign of
discouragement. Back when I first became a Christian, I had a lot of
emotions as well but they were mostly positive. Things like excitement, joy,
etc. However, after years with no noticeable change in my condition, my
positive emotions don't show up much anymore. Just things like anger,
frustration and, mostly, weeping.

Another sign of discouragement that I see in my life is lack of enthusiasm.
When I was first a Christian, I was so enthusiastic about everything that I
barely noticed my circumstances. I still remember how excited I was when
Sunday came round and I got to go to church . But those days are long gone.
I still enjoy going to church and reading the Bible but the zeal I once had
simply isn't there anymore.

A final sign of discouragement is that my confidence in God isn't as
absolute as it once was. When I was first saved, it seemed that every prayer
I prayed got answered. I still get a lot of my prayers answered but, over
the years, enough of my prayers haven't been answered, for whatever reason
that a tiny seed of doubt has arisen to try to erode my confidence in God.

But where there is discouragement, there is also encouragement-as. I often think of the scripture that says that David encouraged himself in the Lord. I too know that my encouragement must primarily come from the Lord. My biggest source of encouragement lies in reading the Bible. No matter how bummed out I am feeling, invariably I read something in the Bible that perks me up. I have developed the habit of reading the Bible as the first thing I do when I first get on my computer and I find it helps me to face the rest of the day.

Another way that I encourage myself in the Lord is through prayer. When I feel discouragement trying to set in, that is a good time to pray. Only, when I am feeling discouraged I don't always want to pray. So I have to make myself. And I need to be sure I actually pray and don't just whine and complain to God.

Praise is a great remedy for discouragement. I find it pretty hard to really praise and remain feeling discouraged. Closely related is my Christian music. Not only does it help me to praise God, the lyrics, when I focus on listening to them, provides a major source of encouragement-as for me.

Going to church always encourages me . Of course, the praise and worship is an encouragement-as to me. The sermon also encourages me and gives me something positive to think about during the long afternoon. It is also wonderful to be in an atmosphere where the focus is on God rather than in the somewhat depressing atmosphere of Long-term Care.

I can also encourage myself in the Lord is by recalling the good things that He has already done in my life. And He has done some pretty awesome things! Unfortunately, this is not something that I do often enough.

I get most of my encouragement from the Lord but other people can also be a real encouragement as they take my mind off of all the negative circumstances surrounding me. Whether people visit or read to me or take me out somewhere, I don't know if people realize how much of an encouragement they are being to me.

So, yes, discouragement is trying to get the best of me right now but it is not going to. Not as long as I encourage myself in the Lord.