One of Those Days ...
Have you ever had one of those days? Maybe that day has turned into a week, and maybe that week has turned into a month. Or maybe your "one of those days" has turned out to be one of those years. Life is good at handing out disappointments and broken dreams. Our expectations are often easily let down. People fail. We fail.
Some of us have hearts that take on offense more easily than others. We all have different personalities. But even the greatest leader among us, the hero of heroes, can fall prey to discouragement. Even kings fall to it. As people, we may hold a position, but our positions can hold us and put us in the most difficult of situations. Look at king David.
While out fighting battles with his men, David's home base at Ziklag was under attack. The wives and children of his army were taken away, leaving David and his men to return to an empty, burned out city. They were outraged. And they were outraged at David, their leader. There was even talk of stoning him. Good opportunity for discouragement to come in and defeat David.
But David found his strength in the Lord, his God. When no one else was around to give him advice, when all his support had turned on him, when it seemed the end was near, David encouraged himself in the Lord. And his God led him. He led him to the right next move. David didn't expend his energy trying to find a way out of the situation. He spent his strength finding the One who knows all things; the One who knew how to get David out of his mess.
We all make messes. Some are our fault, some are not. Either way, we can find ourselves easily discouraged, slipping down that slope of despair and complacency. But God is there to deliver us from the snare of the fowler. He is there to say to us, "Find your strength in me. Remember what I have done. I can do it again. No problem is too big or too small for me to handle. I hold all things in my capable hands."
Maybe you're struggling with a bad attitude. Or maybe the struggle is over and the attitude has won. Don't give up. God is always calling us higher - He buys back our lives from the pit (the one you're staring up out of right now). Maybe you feel like a car that just won't start. Things start to fall in place, the engine starts to crank, but it never quite turns over. Don't give up. You're just in a place where you need a charge from God. You're battery may be low, but God's supply is endless.
You can sit and wallow if you want. The choice is always ours. Or you can lift your eyes, and remember where your help comes from. You can start, even if ever so slightly, to speak the words of encouragement to yourself, "Why are you so downcast, me? Why so distraught? Hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God."
Have you ever had one of those days? Maybe that day has turned into a week, and maybe that week has turned into a month. Or maybe your "one of those days" has turned out to be one of those years. Life is good at handing out disappointments and broken dreams. Our expectations are often easily let down. People fail. We fail.
Some of us have hearts that take on offense more easily than others. We all have different personalities. But even the greatest leader among us, the hero of heroes, can fall prey to discouragement. Even kings fall to it. As people, we may hold a position, but our positions can hold us and put us in the most difficult of situations. Look at king David.
While out fighting battles with his men, David's home base at Ziklag was under attack. The wives and children of his army were taken away, leaving David and his men to return to an empty, burned out city. They were outraged. And they were outraged at David, their leader. There was even talk of stoning him. Good opportunity for discouragement to come in and defeat David.
But David found his strength in the Lord, his God. When no one else was around to give him advice, when all his support had turned on him, when it seemed the end was near, David encouraged himself in the Lord. And his God led him. He led him to the right next move. David didn't expend his energy trying to find a way out of the situation. He spent his strength finding the One who knows all things; the One who knew how to get David out of his mess.
We all make messes. Some are our fault, some are not. Either way, we can find ourselves easily discouraged, slipping down that slope of despair and complacency. But God is there to deliver us from the snare of the fowler. He is there to say to us, "Find your strength in me. Remember what I have done. I can do it again. No problem is too big or too small for me to handle. I hold all things in my capable hands."
Maybe you're struggling with a bad attitude. Or maybe the struggle is over and the attitude has won. Don't give up. God is always calling us higher - He buys back our lives from the pit (the one you're staring up out of right now). Maybe you feel like a car that just won't start. Things start to fall in place, the engine starts to crank, but it never quite turns over. Don't give up. You're just in a place where you need a charge from God. You're battery may be low, but God's supply is endless.
You can sit and wallow if you want. The choice is always ours. Or you can lift your eyes, and remember where your help comes from. You can start, even if ever so slightly, to speak the words of encouragement to yourself, "Why are you so downcast, me? Why so distraught? Hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God."
Well said.
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