Overcoming discouragement
Discouragement hits everyone, sometime throughout their life. It is the chasm between the present, as well as past regrets, seemingly keeping us elevated over a hyperspace of memories that flood our soul, speaking volumes to us about our self-image.
Discouragement is “a loss of confidence or enthusiasm; dispiritedness,” which causes one to lose their footing in the moment, where they feel unstable in their ways. It is the opposite of courage; courage comes from the Latin word cor which means, “heart,” and is an extraordinary strength in the face of pain.
Do you see this? Without pain, there would be NO COURAGE!
Before we move further it is necessary to consider the physical part of your life, addressing hormonal issues, as well as overall physical wellness. This can wreak havoc on the mind if there is imbalance in our body physically. For me I know when I was on an extended water fast and my electrolytes were severely low, or when my HGH (Human Growth Hormone) was low, discouragement was more likely to come and I felt as though I did not have the resource within me to fight it. It was a losing uphill battle I fought non-stop until I was balanced.
With discouragement you feel as though you have no heart in the face of trying circumstances. The wind is knocked out from under your wings and you don’t have the wherewithal to get up. But it is in these times, the most trying times, which bring us into the place of knowing who we are.
A small rock picked up from a dirt road seems to have no value. However, when you add those small pieces of rock up over time, in a glass container, you have a weight that can keep a door opened, when the wind blows, so that the stability of the door is assured during times of strong gusts.
Currently, we live on a 5th floor 1928 apartment in downtown Birmingham, Alabama in the historic garden district. The place has its charm, and part of that means from time to time there are issues we have to deal with in having an older place. Sometimes the door to the screened in porch does not work as well, and to ensure that the door stays shut, we put my stack of law books in front of it, so that when the wind blows really hard, the weight of the books keeps the door closed, or vice versa.
Therefore, we are very familiar with the issue of being creative to keep a door open or shut. With that being said, if we look at the individual rocks here in our analogy as thoughts that are good and filled with hope, attached to memories where we believe there is good in this life, then the weight of all of those thoughts and words outweighs the wind of discouragement that might blow your way.
Storms will come, but do we have the wherewithal to deal with the voice of the storm, the loudness of discouragement? You do when you keep your self-image focused on positive thoughts and words, accounting instead of the good things you have experienced in life, believing that the circumstances will pass.
Without realizing it we can be hypnotized into the delusion of a false reality, which causes us to see things through another lens. Discouragement does this; it gives us a viewpoint through depressive thoughts of “I cannot; things will never change; and so forth.” This wind can blow upon our memories stored up in the neurons we have in our brain, creating electromagnetic waves to communicate to other negative thoughts. This is the storm we have to resist, past regrets that leak into our present.
God is our ROCK! He is always there in our times of great trials and tribulations, and keeps us anchored to a firm foundation.
The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God my keen and firm Strength in Whom I will trust and take refuge, my Shield, and the Horn of my salvation, my High Tower. I will call upon the Lord, Who is to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies. Psalm 18:2-3 AMPC
The enemy of your soul is the voice of the evil one, sending regrets, accusations, shame and discouragement towards your mind, banking on the fact that you will swim in his suggestions like a mouse treading in milk. However, instead of drowning, you have a strength, a weight and fortitude within you, that causes you to rise up into a high place so that you see your deliverance from the adversary of regret. Like a mouse churning its little muscles away in a bath of milk, something happens and what once was its near death, becomes its delight; it has churned butter!
That is what discouragement does, it provides you opportunities to account the good things in your life, leaning on the arm of God’s strength, only to find out you have more value than you ever knew!