Ever felt like your life was the most unlucky of all? No matter what, the human spirit can be an amazing thing. Take for example the case of Larry Hanratty, who was named by the Los Angeles Times in 2007 the most unlucky man in California.
This poor man was nearly executed to death in a construction site accident. For weeks he was in a coma with his lawyers fighting for his liability claim – until one of his lawyers was disbarred, two of them died suddenly and his last lawyer ran off with his wife!
Then after his recovery in June, he was in a terrible car accident and before the police arrived on the scene, he was robbed of $55.00. On July 4th, his insurance company tried to stop his worker’s comp claim; he came within 2 days of being evicted from his home. By the end of July of 2007, he was suffering from lupus and the start of a lung condition that required him to carry a canister of oxygen with him; he was taking 42 pills a day for his heart condition and his liver aliments.
Finally the City Council came to his aid and then his friends rallied around him. After all that had happened to Larry that year, he said to the Mayor of Whittier, “There’s always hope”!
Where does your discouragement come from?
• From family or parents? Well I have a word for you…
Colossians 3:21 “Fathers do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.”
• Maybe your body? Well I have a word for you…
2 Corinthians 4:16 “Be encouraged even though the outer man is perishing, the inward man is being renewed everyday.”
• Perhaps it’s your ministry? Well I have a word for you…
2 Corinthians 4:1 “Therefore since we this ministry, do not lose heart.”
• Possibly a tough trial? Well I have a word for you…
Ephesians 3:13 “Do not lose heart because of trials and tribulations.”
• Feeling lonely and forgotten? Well I have a word for you…
Jesus said “I will never leave you or forsake you.”
The Book of Nehemiah puts us in a very interesting period with the Jews. They were returning to Jerusalem after a 70 year exile in Babylon. It’s the 3rd wave of Jews returning - and Nehemiah still in Babylon - gets word that the city is still in ruins, rebellion was rampant among the workers, and unrelenting hardships were mounting. Tobiah, Sanballat and the Arabs are giving the Jews a very hard time with their vision of having their city walls rebuilt again.
Discouragement is like a parasite that comes along side us and sucks the very life out of us – if we let it!
Parasite = an organism that destroys when it penetrates a plant or an organ of the body and leached off the area it parks itself. Science tells us that there are millions of parasites in the world.
Parasite #1: Fatigue. Vs. 10a
“The strength of the laborers is failing.”
Great coach Vince Lombardi the said, “Fatigue makes cowards out of us all.”
52 days into the project and major fatigue is setting in on all the workers. Our human body is built in such a way that time, pressure and exertion eventually begins to tear at us and cracks start to appear in life’s foundation! That’s when the devil has a circle around your name and your life is at the top of his slimy list.
Two ways to protect from this parasite:
• Pace yourself from the beginning.
• Protect your boundaries. I know Christians think their going to hell if they ever say “NO”!
KEY: fatigue depletes our vitality for life.
Parasite #2: Frustration. Vs. 10b
“There is so much rubbish”
Have you ever worked on something in your life and it just never seems to get better or completed? Maybe healing a relationship, that promotion, a wayward child, finances?
Visions of glory now seemed like a mirage in the desert. Ever present rubbish just seems to linger and the rubble of life just makes us want to give up! This is the beginning of the dreaded 7 letter word…BURNOUT! The parasite of frustration is getting deep into what’s left of any hope!
I’ve heard it said that there are 4 ways we can live… “You can live out, freak out, wear out or burn out.”
How do you know that the parasite “frustration” is eating away at your life?
• Pulling the whole weight of life uphill.
• Reaching the summit of life all alone.
• Feeing exhausted, but won’t admit it.
KEY: Frustration discounts the value of life.
Parasite #3: Failure. Vs. 10c
“We are not able to finish the walls”
May I say that failure is universal to everyone, but it effects do not have to be universal to anyone. The greatest danger to failure is how it grips us after we have listened to the negative side of life – then we begin to buy into the distortion failure tries to make us believe! Listen - its one thing to get knocked down at a place in life but it’s another thing to get back up and face life again! I’m telling someone today – get back up and face life again!
KEY: Failure distorts our vision in life.
Parasite #4: Fear. Vs. 11, 12
Have you ever noticed that you can’t have fear without worry and can’t have worry without fear? Fear and worry are evil twins that have to be constantly fed in order to keep growing in your life! Stop feeding the twins in your life! Satan is like a CPS worker who comes along and warns us to keep care of those evil twins!
Let me put this into perspective for us…a woman was crying while standing on a street corner all by herself. Then a nice man came along and asked her what her problem was. She said, “I was just thinking that maybe someday I would get married, and then my future husband and I would someday have wonderful children. Then one day we’ll take a walk together, and all of the sudden one of children would run into the street, get hit by a car and die!”
Don’t look so smug! We’re all like that at times!
“The person who wastes today crying over yesterday will waste tomorrow crying over today!” – Pastor Dave
Remember, most of the things we worry about never come to pass! What a waste of brain power – where’s our will power to stand on the promises of God?
KEY: Fear destroys our victory in life.
What should be our response when we recognize these parasites in our lives?
1st Response: Cry out To God. Vs. 4, 5, 9
This is the only way to get out of the anxiety closet! Cast your burdens on the Lord and the best way to do that is to cry out to Him!
Philippians 4:6 “Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything, tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank Him for His answers.” TLB
2nd Response: Continue The Work Before You. Vs. 3, 6
Listen if God has place a dream in your path then don’t let discouragement be a roadblock.
You’ve probably sung of the famous lullaby song to your children when trying to get them to fall asleep… “Lullaby and sleep tight, hush my darling is sleeping”.
Did you know that it took Johannes Brahms 7 long years to finish it? He probably kept falling asleep at the piano!
What has caused your discouragement? Please don’t throw in the towel, your answer, your breakthrough, your miracle just might be a around the corner!
3rd Response: Concentrate On The Big Picture. Vs. 13
Take a step back and you’ll get a better look at the work! Nehemiah was able to re-position the men to get more work done. Oh how we need to take this example to heart sometimes! Perspective is everything!
Erma Bombeck for over 30 years wrote a popular column, published 15 books and appeared on “Good Morning America” all the time – it seemed that she gave voice to the ordinary people in life. She once said, “I speak at collages and tell everyone I’m up here not because of my successes but my failures. You see, I had a comedy album that only sold 2 copies – in Beirut! A sitcom that lasted as long as a donut in a police station. A Broadway play that never saw Broadway. A book… signing where I attracted only 2 people – one who only wanted directions and the other wanted to by the desk I was sitting at.
What you must always tell yourself is that - I’m not a failure, I only failed at doing something at that moment - there’s a big difference. Personally, it’s been a tuff road; I’ve buried babies, lost my parents, battled cancer and worried over my kids. The trick is to put it all into perspective and that’s what I do for a living.”
4th Response: Claim the Encouragement of God’s Promises. Vs. 14
5th Response: Carry Someone Else’s Burden.
Discouragement tends to send us inward and it cuts us off from others. Nehemiah tells us that the people were so unified around the work and around each other that they wouldn’t even go home to change their clothes and each carried a sword to protect the other person working next to them. They carried each other’s burdens and watched each other’s backs! The younger helped the older and the stronger helped the weaker! How many times does our own burdens and discouragement seem a little lighter when we focus on others!
Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
Remember Larry who was named L.A. Times most unlucky man in 2007? Well let me finish telling you about him. Even though he was stricken in one year with very bad circumstances, that never stopped him from doing what he did best. You see he was a Deacon in his church and was constantly helping others in their time of need. Everywhere he went in his town he was known as “HOPE” because he always told everyone… “There’s always hope”.
On died on December 25 at 4:05 pm from liver complications. At his funeral there wasn’t room in enough for all who wanted to pay respect to his life. He was more productive in the last year of his life, which was his most difficult. In 2007 it was estimated by his church, First Baptist Church, Whittier - he visited over 100 needy families, gave more hope to those shut in, and touched more lives with AIDS in the local Hospice where he volunteered every single week.
On his tombstone it reads, “There’s always hope”.
My advice to anyone who wants to destroy the parasite of discouragement –find a hurt and heal it – find a discouraged soul and start encouraging –find a life where joy is escaping out the window and be the one to close it – find a life without a song and be the music to their ears!
