OVERCOMING DISCOURAGEMENT
Then the people of Judah said, "The work crews are worn out, and there is too much rubble. We can’t continue to rebuild the wall." Nehemiah 4:10
Yielding to discouragement had great prices to pay.
• The 10 Israelite Spy got discouraged and the whole nation paid 40 years in the wilderness
• A Christian wife of an unbeliever, drunkard and unfaithful husband yield to discouragement and the result is a broken marriage, a suffering children and a broken heart
• A student failed to overcome discouragement due difficulties in school and the result is poverty and unemployment
• A new believer got discourage due to repeated failure to overcome his old habits and vices and the result is stagnant growth and unstable faith
• A poor man stops believing that his situations will change. He accepts his fate and stop to venture on anything and therefore stay on his poverty until his death
Whatever discouragements that you are facing today, you should not stop believing on God. You should not let your discouragement defeat you but rather, you should overcome your discouragement for the glory of God.
Discouragement is one of the best tools of the enemy to defeat us. All of us even the most gifted and strong men of God experienced discouragement from time to time. Nehemiah, one of the best leaders and motivators of all time taught us how to battle discouragement.
Let us consider some of the common causes of discouragement.
I. THE REASON (Neh. 4:1-12)
1. FATIGUE
Neh 4:10 …The strength of the labourers is giving out…
You simply get tired as the laborers did in Nehemiah 4:10. We’re human beings and we wear out. You cannot burn the candle at both ends. So if you’re discouraged, it may be you don’t have to change anything. You just need a vacation! Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is go to bed.
2. FRUSTRATION
Neh 4:10 …and there is so much rubble…
Nehemiah says there was rubble all around, so much that it was getting in the way of rebuilding the wall. Do you have rubble in your life? Have you noticed that anytime you start doing something new, the trash starts piling up? If you don’t clean it out periodically, it’s going to stop your progress. You can’t avoid it, so you need to learn to recognize it and dispose of it quickly so you don’t lose focus on your original intention. What is the rubble in your life? I think rubble is the trivial things that waste your time and energy and prevent you from accomplishing what God has called you to do.
3. FAILURE –
Neh 4:10 …that we cannot rebuild the wall.
Nehemiah’s people were unable to finish their task as quickly as originally planned and, as a result, their confidence collapsed. They were thinking, "We were stupid to think we could ever rebuild this wall." But you know what I do when I don’t reach a goal on time? I just set a new goal. I don’t give up. Everybody fails. Everybody does foolish things. So the issue is not that you failed - it’s how you respond to your failure. Do you give in to self-pity? Do you start blaming other people? Do you start complaining that it’s impossible? Or, do you refocus on God’s intentions and start moving again?
4. FEAR –
Neh 4:11 Also our enemies said, Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.
Neh 4:12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, Wherever you turn, they will attack us.
Nehemiah 4 suggests the people most affected by fear are those who hang around negative people. If you’re going to control the negative thoughts in your life, you’ve got to get away from negative people as much as you can. Maybe you’re discouraged because of fear. You’re dealing with fears like, "I can’t handle this. It’s too much responsibility." Maybe it’s the fear that you don’t deserve it. It’s the fear of criticism. Fear will destroy your life if you let it. But you can choose to resist the discouragement. Say, "God help me get my eyes off the problem - off the circumstance - and keep my eyes on you."
II. THE REMEDY (Neh. 4:13-23)
1. REINFORCEMENT
When discouraged, call the family of God for help
Neh 4:13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows.
Moses is the greatest leader, handpicked by God and yet he became suicidal.
Num 11:14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me.
Num 11:15 If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now-- if I have found favour in your eyes-- and do not let me face my own ruin.
The Lord’s solution to his discouragement
Num 11:16 The LORD said to Moses: Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Make them come to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you.
Num 11:17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone.
You will not have to carry it alone! You need to delegate. We all need somebody to help and work with us.
2. REQUISITION
When discouraged, call on God through prayer
Neh 4:9 But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
Joshua is the greatest general, handpicked by God to lead Israel into the Promised Land but he felt like quitting after the defeat at Ai
Jos 7:8 What can I say, O Lord, now that Israel has retreated from the enemy?
Jos 7:9 The Canaanites and everyone else in the country will hear about it. They will surround us and kill every one of us! And then what will you do to protect your honor?"
During time of discouragement, Joshua talked to God and prayed. Prayer is the best antidote to discouragement.
3. REVITALIZATION
When discouraged, remember the Lord who is great and awesome. Find rest on God and be refreshed by his word and his presence
Neh 4:14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.
Elijah is the greatest prophet of Old Testament who is willing to challenge the idolatry of his day and called fire down from heaven, won a face off with prophets of Baal, but he requested for himself that he might die, and said, it is enough now, O Lord, take away my life!
1Ki 19:4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!"
God’s encouragement for him
1Ki 19:7 And the angel of the LORD came back the second time, and touched him, and said, "Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you."
1Ki 19:8 So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.
4. REPOSITION
When discouraged, reposition yourself from the position of doubt and defeat to the position of faith and victory. You can only do this through changing your stand. Stand on the word of God and not on your doubt.
Neh 4:16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armour. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah
Job - We talk about his patience and faith, and he was truly a great man…he had a great beginning and a great ending, but in-between, when he lost everything, he wished he had not been born, became suicidal, extremely depressed for a period of time!
Job 3:3 "Cursed be the day of my birth, and cursed be the night when I was conceived.
God’s Solution for Job
Job 42:10 When Job prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes. In fact, the LORD gave him twice as much as before!
Job changed his position too. From crying and complaining to praying for his friends
5. REFLECTION
When discouraged, reflect on God’s power and love. Look on God who will fight for us.
Neh 4:20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!
Jonah - He wanted God to kill him, and was spiritually depressed and not even happy for all the souls that just got saved in Nineveh! God gave him lesson – something to reflect so he can understand better.
Jon 4:10 Then the LORD said, "You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. And a plant is only, at best, short lived.
Jon 4:11 But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?"
Often times, our discouragement is due to our short foresight. Spending time in reflections and meditations of the word of God will help us so the God can illuminate our hearts and minds about his purposes and plans for our lives.
God promises to renew our strength and even take away our discouragements if we will just wait and reflect on God.
Isa 40:31 Yet, the strength of those who wait with hope in the LORD will be renewed. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and won’t become weary. They will walk and won’t grow tired.
If you have been blessed, encouraged or inspired by this sermon then it’s your turn to be an encouragement too. You can do it by sending email to this contributor at spy2rb@yahoo.com or post comment on the discussion box below.
