“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
--John 16:33
I once heard a story about an auction they were having in hell. God said, “Satan, you need to reduce your arsenal.” So they were auctioning off some of the weapons of the enemy. And the one auctioned off at the highest price was the tool of discouragement because it is such a powerful weapon against us.
We all get discouraged from time to time. And discouragement can range from the moody blues all the way to clinical, and even severe, depression. Even some of the greatest saints of all time have been discouraged… biblical heroes such as Moses, Elijah, Jonah, David, and Peter.
Discouragement can come in all kinds of phases. One is that of listlessness – that feeling of just “blah.” And if that’s not dealt with, it moves to sadness, and eventually to helplessness as the chains of discouragement grow stronger and stronger in our lives.
But in Christ, you can overcome discouragement. As the Lord Jesus tells us in today’s passage, the peace that can overcome discouragement is found only in Him. Yes, there will be trouble in this world, but we can have victory because Christ has overcome. So whenever you feel discouraged, lean on Jesus, who has overcome so that you can have abundant life!
WHEN DISCOURAGEMENT HITS, TRUST IN JESUS BECAUSE HE HAS OVERCOME THE TROUBLES OF THE WORLD!
How to Conquer Fear
Monday, February 24, 2020
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”
Deuteronomy 20:2–4
Though God had promised to give the land of Israel to the Jewish people, He did not hand it to them. They were required to go into the land and fight to defeat the occupants. In preparing them for those battles, Moses gave the instruction above regarding how they were to fight. War has never been a laughing matter. There is great danger and threat to health and even life. Yet in the face of that reality, God told the people not to be afraid.
God was not telling them that there was nothing to fear. Instead, He was telling them that He would fight for them. Victory over fear does not come from not having anything to fear, but from faith in God. David was in the hands of the Philistines, whose champion Goliath he had killed as a young man and whose soldiers he had defeated over and over when he wrote, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee” (Psalm 56:3).
It is tempting to think that when things settle down and get easier we will be able to trust God more. But faith is a requirement for victory when things aren’t going well. If we allow our emotions to be dictated by our assessment of the enemies we face, fear is certain to result. But if our focus is on God and we are trusting in Him, we recognize that there is nothing of which we need to be afraid.
Today's Growth Principle:
The only remedy for the snare of fear is a strong and confident faith in God.
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