Discouragement is the anesthetic the devil uses on a person just before he reaches in and carves out his heart.
Discouragement
Christine Caine
What happens when you’ve prayed long and hard for something, but you don’t get the answer you wanted? You asked God, and you felt sure that he wanted it for you too. Yet you didn’t land that job, your kids didn’t return to church, your abilities are diminished, and the relationship you’ve been working on hasn’t been reconciled. In situations like these, we can often feel hurt, confused, disappointed, and even abandoned. But Scripture promises that God does not withhold any good thing from those who love him (Psalm 84:11). If you are walking through pain, heartache, setbacks, and disappointment, I want to encourage you with these truths today: God is good. God does good. God works all things together for good. God loves you. God is for you. You can trust his heart, even when you can’t trace his hand.
Francis Frangipane
Satan will stop your destiny if you accept the power of disappointment into your life. Disappointment cuts us off from our vision, and without a vision people perish. Therefore, let me ask you: Are you carrying disappointment in your heart? Renounce it. Forgive those who have let you down. Have you personally or morally failed? Repent deeply and return to your Redeemer.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
How is it with your heart this morning? Are you in the lowest depths of sorrow? Does corruption rise within your spirit, and grace seem like a poor spark trampled under foot? Does your faith almost fail you? Fear not, it is neither your graces nor feelings on which you are to live: you must live simply by faith on Christ. With all these things against us, now-in the very depths of our sorrow, wherever we may be now, as much in the valley as on the mountain, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” “Ah, but,” you say, “see how I am arrayed! my graces are not bright; my righteousness does not shine with apparent glory. ” But read the next: “It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him. ” The Holy Spirit shall purify our minds, and divine power shall refine our bodies, then shall we see him as he is.
Samuel Logan Brengle
Every Christian sees around him sorrow and suffering which he cannot help, and his perplexity at the sight is the Lord’s prompting for him to take the very uttermost care of his own soul, lest he stumble and fall through doubt and discouragement. By the care of his soul I do not mean that he shall coddle and pet and pity himself, nor work himself up into some pleasant feeling. But I mean that he should pray and pray and pray, and seek the presence and teaching of the Holy Spirit, until his soul is filled with light and strength, that he may have unquestioning faith in the wisdom and love of God, that he may have unwearied patience in learning His will (Heb 6:12), and that his love may be equal to the great need he sees all about him.
Francois Fenelon
Never let us be discouraged with ourselves; it is not when we are conscious of our faults that we are the most wicked: on the contrary, we are less so. We see by a brighter light. And let us remember, for our consolation, that we never perceive our sins till He begins to cure them.
Ray Johnston
What Elijah did when he lost hope. We also do when we lose hope. Elijah deeply discouraged made things worse by doing five things in rapid succession. All of them disruptive. He started making rash unhealthy decisions. He ran from responsibility. He blamed other people. He completely lost perspective. He gave up too soon. How do you deal with discouragement? It is a very important question to ask.
Chris Mathis
Don’t communicate your storm to the wrong people. They will just drag you down.
Bill Johnson
If you have more influence from media than you do from the Word of God, then your discouragement is self-inflicted.
Christine Caine
Don’t focus on what you can’t do today, do the things you can do. If we spend all our time thinking about what we have lost, we will not see what we have in our hands right now. God works with what we have, not with what we don’t have. The miracle is in your hands.