1 Kings 19:4
“But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.”
As great of a man of God as Elijah was, we must remember that he was still human. Because he was human, he still faced the same feelings and temptations that you and I face every day. His status did not exempt him from sin, temptation or discouragement.
In the verse above we read something that was very much out of character for Elijah. We read that Elijah went and sat under a juniper tree and spent that time feeling sorry for himself. This event happened right after the great victory he experienced in defeating the four hundred prophets of Baal. Though the great prophet fell into a time of discouragement, we also see that God was there to nurture him back to usefulness.
Discouragement is a part of life that many people don't like to talk about. It does not matter what your status is in the Christian life, you will face times of discouragement. The causes of discouragement are found in the story above. These causes are: being over tired, self-pity and having a martyrs attitude believing that you are the only one doing right. In each of these areas we must guard ourselves so that we don't allow discouragement to take us down.
I want you to notice that the discouragement in Elijah's life came right after a great victory. The most dangerous time in a person’s life is right after a great victory. It is in this time that we will face the greatest temptation of discouragement. The reason for this is because after a great victory we have an emotional let down from the mountaintop. We must be extra careful and guard our emotions during these times.
What is the greatest way to guard ourselves from discouragement? The greatest way to guard yourself from discouragement is to do what it takes to overcome discouragement; stay busy serving God and invest your life in others. Remember, discouragement comes because we place our eyes upon ourselves, so the way to overcome discouragement is to place our efforts on helping others, which will take our eyes off of ourselves. If you want to overcome discouragement, then get busy serving God and pour yourself into helping others.
One other word of caution is when you plan a mountaintop experience, schedule yourself to stay busy right after that time. The reason for this is you don't want to allow discouragement to come into your life. If you plan to stay busy after the mountaintop, and fill that time with helping others, you can avoid the letdown that leads to discouragement.
Be careful to watch your emotions. Discouragement is of the Devil. The Devil will use discouragement to keep us from doing God's work. Let's be careful not to waste our time in discouragement by filling our schedule with serving God and helping others during those times when we are most apt to get discouraged. This will help us avoid the awful sin of discouragement.
To contact Evangelist Allen Domelle, send an email to contact@oldpathsjournal.com.
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