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The Devil’s Favorite Tool – Discouragement
The Devil’s Favorite Tool – Discouragement
To begin with I would like to read you a story from Luke’s Gospel account.
Read Luke 24:13-21a
“Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,”they replied. “He was a prophet,powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.”
There is nothing so devastating as having lost hope. It seems that these men lost all hope. The one they had hoped to be the redeemer of Israel, was in their minds dead. With the death of Jesus, came the death of their hope.
We have all lost hope in some sense, at some point in our live. Maybe you did not get the job that you wanted. Maybe the bottom fell out of your business, or maybe you lost a good job. Maybe it was because of a health issue and you thought there was no hope for you or a loved one. Maybe your family gathered around the grave of a child, and through tears you asked, “Why God?” Maybe your family has been torn apart by strife. Or your children are rebellious. Or, your parents are suffering from a loss of memory. Or things just did not turn out the way you hope they would.
In our midweek Bible study we are looking at the life of Joseph.
I believe the story Joseph was one of the greatest stories recorded in the Bible. As one reads the story of Joseph, if you did not know the entire story including how it ends, you would probably wonder why God was allowing this young man to suffer through so much unwarranted trouble. First we read about how Joseph was his dad’s favorite son. Even though his family was blessed by God, we also read about how dysfunctional that family was. Jacob’s household was plagued with feelings of jealousy, envy, unwholesome completion, envy and rage. As a young man Joseph was also exposed to deception, polygamy, incest, and murder. Then we read about the poor treatment and hatred his brothers had for him, eventually selling him into slavery. And then he was later falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife who said that he tried to seduce and rape her, and so he ends up in prison.
What probably really confused Joseph was the fact that he knew that he was innocent and didn’t do anything wrong or anything to deserve such treatment. After he correctly interprets the dreams of the Pharaoh’s Cupbearer and Baker, he asks the cupbearer to speak to the Pharaoh on his behalf. But we read that he is left in jail forgotten for another two full years before he is remembered.
Talk about a hopeless situation and a reason to be discouraged, depressed and led to despair. In class we talked about how we would feel if we were in Joseph shoes. And I found the list of emotions similar to what people feel today when we get discouraged and loose hope: Feeling of resentment, bitterness, hostility, anger, hurt, and discouragement, maybe even some feeling of agitation or revenge.
But the wonderful thing about Joseph in this story is the fact that Joseph doesn’t seem to let these feeling get the best of him. Even though many could perceive his life as cursed and unfortunate, Joseph remained faithful to God, and to those over him, and to his responsibilities. The author does not record one negative word about Joseph or his conduct even though he suffered one disappointment after another.
We like to come to church here and sing up lifting songs and hear a positive message, but there are times when that is simply not where we are.
Sometimes we just feel down and out, maybe even angry because things are not going the way we hoped. Or maybe we feel guilty because we are not as strong and faithful as Joseph seem to be here. So what are we do?
First of all we need to realize that these feeling are bound to come at different times in our life. If you are human everything is not going to go your way and sometime even the best of us will be disappointed. What matters is how you are going to handle these disappointments, and how you are going let them affect others around you.
Here is an example… Listen to what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 “ 8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us again. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.”
To despair is to lose all hope, or to be overcome by a sense of futility or defeat. The Apostle Paul said he despaired of life. It seems like he was just ready give up and die.
But based on this text, he and his companions eventually recognized God’s hand in their situation.
Comfort and peace comes upon the child of God when he or she realizes that God is ultimately in control even in their most disastrous, heart wrenching moments of our life. The Lord, is still Lord even over great personal tragedies, and with Him no situation is ever meant to lead us to despair.
In this text Paul goes on to say that he recognized that some of those disappointing things that happened in his life happened #1 so that he might not rely on or depend on himself, but rather on God, who can raise the dead. Later in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Paul said that he realize it is when things were at their worst and he was the weakest, he was really stronger because it was in those moment of weakness that he would lean on his Lord more than ever.
#2. In the text he also implied that he recognized that God is the one in control and the one that could deliver him, and he recognized He had delivered him over and over again throughout his life and would do it again.
#3. And because of that reality, knowing that God has and would continue to deliver him, Paul said that he learned to set his hopes on Him, no one else.
#4. And because so many prayed for him, many more would give thanks for the answered prayers .
I want to give a few more reasons why I believe we should not lose hope. First is because the WORD OF GOD GIVES HOPE.
Romans 15:4 says; “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide, we might have hope.”
The stories of old are there for us to read and show us that God is in control and works in the lives of mankind. The scriptures are meant to give us hope.
We may think that our problems our unique, that what we are feeling is unique, but God has preserved stories of individuals that experienced trouble, some far worse than ours, & yet survived and grew stronger because of them.
God ministered to them in their situations and there is no reason why we should believe that He isn’t doing the same for us today. The same Lord and God who worked in the lives of the saints of old, is working with us today.
These stories have been preserved for us that we might have hope, and to reassure us that God is still involved in our lives, and that He cares for us.
The stories in the Bible are also meant to give us hope and so too are the promises. The Bible is just loaded with promises that should give us comfort and hope. I like what it says in Hebrews 13:5, it says “…For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 28:20 where He said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Like a loving parent who watches over their children maybe without them even knowing it, our Lord watches over us. He was with Joseph in prison. He was with David when Saul wanted to kill him. He was with Daniel in the lion’s den. He was with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace.
No matter what our situation, it is important for us to remember God’s word; not only the promises He made, but also the stories of how He took care of His own over and over and over again. If you focus more on God’s word and what He has preserved for us and less on your disappointments, it should help you in those times of despair and help you become hopeful again.
The second reason for hope is the Cross of Jesus Christ. If the cross communicates any message, it most definitely should remind you how much God loves you and me. Do you actually think that God would send His son into the world and allow Him to suffer the humiliation and pain He suffered, or do you think He would allow His son to be nailed to a wooden crossbeam to save us from our sins if He did not have an incredible amount of love for us?
You may be sad, and you may not understand why you did not get that job, or why a family member died in an accident, you may not understand why things don’t go the way you planed. But if you want to feel better you need to believe that God is ultimately in control and will work all things out for your good and He’ll do that because He really, really loves you.
It’s crucial and imperative for us to know and believe that He may be protecting us from something, or He may have something else better in mind, or what we want is not in our best interest, or what you may want may upset a whole chain of events that only He can see.
If you remember His deep love for you and me, it will help you in those difficult times of despair and it will help re-ignite feeling of hope again.
Before I end this lesson I like to share a story with you I read this past week about a yard sale that the devil conducted. It goes like this:
The devil was holding a yard sale one day and displayed his most useful tools, marked at different prices, on a table.
Lying side by side were some of his most notable implements of destruction: hatred, envy, jealously, deceit, lust, lying and pride- all on sale. But over to the side of the yard on display was a worn-out tool that cost more than all the others combined. The tool was labeled DISCOURAGEMENT.
When asked why it was more expensive than the other tools, the devil responded, “It’s more useful to me than any of the others. When I can’t bring down my victims with the rest of my tools, I use discouragement, because so few people realize it belongs to me.” Nothing paralyzes us, nothing stops us in our tracks like discouragement and its partner in crime, hopelessness.
Discouragement and hopelessness are no respecters of persons. They keep the unemployed, unemployed. The homeless, homeless. The sick, sick. They can even draw the most powerful ministry to its knees. When you’re overcome with discouragement and hopelessness, you can’t pray, you can’t worship and you become a victim of your environment. Discouragement and hopelessness drain you of courage, vision, faith, expectation and the will to make a difference in the kingdom of God . If the devil can get you discouraged and hopeless, then he has successfully neutralized you. You are left with only enough energy to feel sorry for yourself.
Conclusion: Are you tired of being discouraged? You don’t have to stay that way. Whether or not the situation changes, you can experience joy, peace, and contentment.
For the believer, circumstances don’t have to dictate emotions.
Allow Scripture and God’s love for you to permeate your mind and heart. Don’t dwell on the disappointment, rather keep busy, lean upon the Lord and His promises and discouragement will lose its foothold, and you will eventually become joyous and fruitful, and hopeful again.
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