Facing Discouragement

Imagine being in a situation where you had to be told constantly to be brave and strong. A high-pressure moment where you needed a constant reminder that you weren't alone. An extra boost when you might be facing discouragement.

That was the case for Joshua.

Shortly before Moses died, and even after, God consistently told Joshua, commanded him in fact, to be strong and courageous. But God also reminded Joshua that He would be with him through it all (Joshua 1:9).

Wouldn't it be nice if God told us the same thing today, especially when we are in trials?

Well, He has in Hebrews 13:5c: "'I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you'"

That truth is for us today.

Yet I know for myself I am easily discouraged.

Yesterday I took a trip into the wilderness in search of a "hidden" waterfall. The trail seemed as if it hadn't been used in years, overgrown with who knows what kind of vegetation; plenty of poison ivy, no doubt. It wasn't an especially hard trail, just wet from the recent storms.

I wanted to film another video, but I failed to plan and couldn't get into the swing of things while there. So I decided to hoof it to the couple of spots I was looking for.

It wasn't clear from my GPS which side of the trail I'd have to venture off of to reach this secret waterfall; there were perhaps cascades on both sides, but I opted to go uphill. Being off trail, there was no, well, trail. It's always fun to make it up as you go.

After a couple hundred yards or so, I spotted the waterfall through the dense forest. I quickly realized that, while pretty and a great adventure, it wasn't something to photograph as it butted up to the trees, and there was no real stream to be had. Photography-wise, it felt like a wasted trip.

Near the start of the trail was another off-trail section that led to some cliffs, roughly 70 to 100 feet above. But by the time I got to them, I was too tired.

And so I had a little pity party. As I said, I can be easily discouraged.

I get to a place where I question things; namely, what in the world am I even doing? I realize that I doubt not God's ability, but His goodness. Not good to do. As if it's His fault I didn't plan more.

I suspect I'm not the only one who struggles to trust Him, to believe Him when He says that He will never leave or forsake us. When He commanded Joshua to be strong and courageous, it wasn't as if He wasn't going to come through to help him.

And when the author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus will never leave nor forsake us, we have every reason to believe that it's true.

Paul reminds us that if God was willing to sacrifice His Son, how would He not even more give us all things? He goes on to explain to the church in Rome, and us today, that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ.

These are things that should help us to be brave and strong, two things, mind you, that we are not going to muster up ourselves.

None of us has it together; I suspect even Joshua, the son of Nun, didn't either. I mean, he was the only person in the Bible who didn't have a dad!

Terrible joke, I know; once the crickets stop, you can keep reading.

In all seriousness, God has told us that He is with us, and I believe that in a way we, too, are to be strong and courageous. But we develop that by looking at God Himself. We may not be going into a land of giants to conquer, but there are undoubtedly obstacles and challenges ahead of us that are well beyond our strength to handle. True tests of our faith, things that will understandably bring discouragement. But that doesn't change the truth of God's word.

Jesus, when He told the disciples to go and evangelize the world, began by letting them know that all power and authority was His. He then closed out his command with the phrase:

"'and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'" - Matthew 28:20b

He gave them a massive task, one that would bring about incredible difficulty and discouragement. But Jesus reminded them that the battle was His and He already won it, because all authority was in His hands. And He comforted them with those words of encouragement: they'd never be alone.

So, just as Joshua and the disciples probably didn't know exactly what they were getting into, neither do we know everything ahead. But God has told us we're not alone, and we never will be alone, no matter what. May we find courage and strength in that, and may it fuel our fickle and small faith.

And maybe, by God's grace, I stop getting so discouraged. May that be true for us all.

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