When we fail to consider and follow God’s way for success, we open ourselves up to the flesh’s weapon of pride and the devil’s weapon of discouragement. Much has been written about pride, so we will focus our attention in this article on disarming the enemy of one of his more subtle weapons: discouragement.

Whether we are trying to get healthy (3John 1:2), striving to enter through the narrow gate (Luke 13:24), or pursuing any number of other godly aspirations, the shadow of discouragement seems to lurk about the proceedings. Has anyone not experienced discouragement? Some of us get discouraged even before we get started (that, by-the-way, is evidence of its subtle and malevolent nature).

Using health as our example, consider the following as God’s way for disarming discouragement.

First, a couple of questions. It is important to answer the first one out loud – Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the (rhema, spoken) word of God (Romans 10:17).

1. Does God want His children to be healthy?
2. Do you desire to be healthy?

If you answered “yes” to both questions, then you can know and lean into the heart-tie you have with God for the good work He has created for you to walk in, knowing you becoming healthy will be for God’s glory (Ephesians 2:10; Matthew 5:16). This is where Psalm 37:4-6 comes in:

⁴ Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
⁶ He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

God will give you your desire for better health when you delight (i.e., surrender) in Him, commit your way for good health to Him, and trust Him with the process of getting there.

It is important to notice we start with the heart, not the mind. God created the heart for desire and faith (Romans 10:10).

Secondly, once our hearts are surrendered to, aligned with, and trusting in God, we can begin to work on being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). We accomplish this through participation with the Holy Spirit, the Person of the Godhead responsible for our transformation (2Corinthians 3:18).

We participate with the Holy Spirit by reckoning what He says to be true as truth for ourselves. Here are a couple of important truths related to discouragement we can reckon as true for ourselves.

1. It is God’s will and work to see this done (Philippians 2:13). He has the grace for every problem known to man. God will go so far as to thwart our attempt to do the willing and the working, simply because that is not our role in the relationship. Our role is to participate in the work He is doing, by faith, reckoning, and obedience.
2. While it is true that failure causes discouragement, failure is not the problem. When we fail, courage is not taken away from us unless we allow it. We all fail when we are learning and doing new things. The spotlight should be on the discouragement, it is the enemies’ tool for our failure. Notice the diabolical inversion.

At the practical level, there are three reckonings we can exercise to disarm discouragement when it starts scratching at our door:

1. Verbalize our faith in God’s desire for our health and His grace to get it done (i.e., “I believe…”). Do this with a loved one for multiplied affect.
2. Humble ourselves as the child we are to Him. As Jesus said, “Without Me, you can do nothing (John 15:5b).”
3. If you feel you have sinned against God in choosing not to walk in His desire and grace, exercise 1John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

When we humble ourselves in this way, God lifts us up (James 4:10).

Thirdly, we must recognize that this is a transformational opportunity which runs deeper than the natural, physical challenges. It is a supernatural opportunity. This is about God accomplishing something related to His bigger purposes: reign, intimacy, habitation, and glory. Here are some thoughts about each one:

Reign: Who determines what health means? Who determines when we exercise and what we eat? Who are we doing this for? Taking the wrong level of responsibility can lead to reigning over the situation.

Intimacy: Maintaining the heart-tie throughout the process is God’s greatest desire. Becoming dependent on God for success deepens our relationship with Him.

Habitation: He inhabits our praise. He also inhabits our community, so walk through this with others, celebrate milestone successes with others.

Glory: Good work is God’s work. The good work of becoming healthy is for you to walk in, for His glory. Exploring and experiencing the mysteries of God’s way in this will bring His glory into your life (Proverbs 25:2).

Fourth, do not make this a plan or a program. Doing so tends to shift our faith from God to the plan or program. Simply start each day with the desire to find deeper relationship with God through the challenge/opportunity. Take it one day at a time. If you fail, exercise 1John 1:9 and move on.

Lastly, here are a couple of encouraging passages. They are also words that will become faith.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

The “power that works in us” is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead (Ephesians 1:19-20) – the reason we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13), including becoming healthy.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the Lord upholds him with His hand. Psalm 37:23-24

Notice that it is possible with God to fall and not hit the ground. This is totally different than having to dust yourself off and try, try again. Amen.

God bless you both with faith and grace for the transformation He is doing, by His Spirit, in your lives.

Have a strong day in the Lord,

Rob

#iamjustthepen

P.S. Keep in mind, God’s way for disarming discouragement applies to every godly endeavor. My current challenge is eliminating the distractions of social media and online games from my life. God’s way is always the best way, and the results are always incredibly rewarding.