Discouraged? Welcome to the human race!

For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. 2 Corinthians 1:8

Who wrote the Book of Corinthians? The Apostle Paul… then those words were his!

Unbearably crushed… despaired of life itself… sounds fairly desperate doesn’t he?

Discouragement can immobilize us. If we allow it to, it takes away our inner joy, our peace, and a sense of wholeness.

A baseball umpire once called the famous Babe Ruth out on strikes. When the crowd booed with sharp disapproval at the call, the legendary Ruth turned to the umpire with disdain and said, “There are 40,000 people here who know that the last pitch was a ball, tomato head.” Suspecting that the umpire would erupt with anger, the coaches and players braced themselves for Ruth’s ejection. However, the cool headed umpire replied, “Maybe so, Babe, but mine is the only opinion that counts.”

If anyone faced discouragement, it was that umpire, with 40,000 enraged fans breathing down his neck. However, the umpire knew something…. that it was only his opinion that mattered, and no one else could have a say in the matter. Right or wrong, it was his decision.  

Likewise, you and I are the only people responsible as to HOW we react to discouragement. Jesus refused to let people discourage, frustrate, or defeat Him because of their faulty perception of His worth. The Lord knew that His success was not determined by others’ estimate of His worth; He focused instead on His heavenly Father’s overwhelming love, power, and advocacy for Him and His ministry.

Jesus spoke with great courage, confidence and assurance in God’s promises regardless of the opposition. He said, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. John 16:33

C. S Lewis, in his book The Eternal Weight of Glory, wrote: “The promises of Scripture may very roughly be reduced to five heads. It has promised, firstly, that we shall be with Christ; secondly, that we shall be like him; thirdly, that we shall have glory; fourthly, that we shall, in some sense, be fed or feasted or entertained; and finally, that we shall have some sort of official position in the universe—ruling cities, judging angels, being pillars of God’s temple.” Basically, everything that happens in this life is adding up, and the best is yet to come. First there’s suffering, then there will be glory.

The Apostle Paul’s counterpoint to his discouragement was this… “Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—for we walk by faith, not by sight—we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.                   2 Corinthians 5:6-10

Did you catch that phrase “to be pleasing to Him”?

How can we avoid being discouraged? Firstly, we must fasten our eyes on the unseen; then we must fix our minds on our eternal home; and finally, we must set our hearts on pleasing Christ. Was Paul discouraged at the end of his “earthly season”? Here are his words to Timothy, written just before his death in Rome: “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” 2 Timothy 4:6-8