Discouragement many of the pictures by nvtech.com By
Dr. Michael L. FordChristian
Counselor & Theologian
Introduction Much of my daily activities center on the work of being a Christian counselor. Often people come to me complaining of depression. I have discovered that very often a person’s complaint of depression is nothing more than a symptom of their real problem. They are discouraged.This past week, a Christian Brother came to me asking how I managed to keep from being discouraged in the challenges I face in the ministry. I shared with him my testimony of how the Lord called me at the age of eleven, and then over the following weeks He showed me my primary mission in the ministry would be to the church. God let me know early on how for the most part people would not respond to, even reject, what I had to say. That is some heavy, scary knowledge to lay on one so young, but I see now that I needed for things to happen just that way for the years of preparation to take place as they did.
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5. Bad attitude toward the wicked effects the servitude of the believer.
I
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service.
And
be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of
your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and
perfect will of God.
For I say through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think., but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. Romans 8:1-8; Romans 12: 1-3
The above passage of Scripture has quite a bit to say on the subject of how our outlook affects our output. For instance, we can uncover at least three performance principles in this passage:
(1) We must yield ourselves volitionally to God’s will. It is not something that will occur automatically over a period of time. In order to do this the individual must have an attitude that their submission is nothing more than what should be reasonably/rationally expected. It just makes sense.
(2) The tendency of the mind and carnal heart is toward the things of the world. Even in the redeemed person there is a pressure toward conformance with the worldly standard of enmity and covetousness. A person has to both choose and work at nonconformance to the world and the disciplining of the mind into a consistent pursuit of the mind of God.
(3) No man should ever think he has arrived spiritually, anymore than any man should think that he has some special entitlement in this world. He should not seek to either be or have in competition with another, but rather he should seek to realize all that God would accomplish in him.
The Romans passage quoted above emphasizes the positive aspect of service. Underlying it is the negative aspect. Failure to seek to accomplish God’s rightful, reasonable expectation will have its own negative and harmful result. Without going into great detail over each point, it is sufficient to note that the fruit of the refusal to pursue that which is reasonable and rational results in the manifestation of the
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carnal. Everything the passage encourages a man to do because of the mercy God has had on us left undone yields its own bitter fruit.
Garbage in, garbage out; the fruit of stinkin’ thinkin’ is the attitudes that are worldly, and the consequences that fall on those whose feet are anchored in the world. First there is an attitude formed in the depths of ones being that they are somehow second rate and not really worthwhile. It is the repercussion of their own attitude toward the wicked, whether it be anger, envy, or covetousness. Hostility toward the one bounces back upon the originator. This is a spiritual issue and principle that is consistent.[11]
For a person to feel the repercussion of their attitude means they will experience depression as a minimum.. This depression will continue and deepen as long as they remain in a state of rebellion refusing to acknowledge their sin. . Depression alone affects performance, bur then there is discouragement following.
Sin hinders a person’s ability to serve God. The bad attitude itself is a sin. The affect of sin hinders a person’s ability to serve God. These are the internal issues within the believer that affect a person’s service quite apart from the message their attitude is sending out to the world. It should not be any wonder that a person continuing in such a situation becomes discouraged, or even that they succeed in discouraging others.
One last observation must be made in this area before this part of our study of discouragement is quitted. That is, when a person repents and sets about making things right, getting their house in order, the fruits and pressure of their previously held attitude does not immediately go away. The flesh struggles against the change, and it has been strengthened over the time the person has cultivated their attitude. And, people remember the former man. Repentance and reform means that the person must constantly remember that they are not to grow weary in well doing.
Hope
deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree
of life.
We want and need patience and we want it right now. The truth is that the value of what we want often lies in the amount of work, energy, and time we put into it. It is even true in how we value the salvation of people. Quite often we value people who are newly come into the faith by the amount of time we spent praying and otherwise working in getting them to the saving knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord. The principle of valuing that, which comes at a dearer price, operates throughout. If young ladies understood that the value young men put on them is in direct proportion to how hard they have to work to woo and win them, they would not succumb quite so easily.
People have problems accepting the gift of salvation because it is free. People will often not obey the counsel of the minister/counselor when it is given to them freely, even after they have sought it out. I have found out through hard experience that Christians will not listen to and follow the leadership of the professional who gives himself to them without charge. People, in a fleshly mode, assign value consistent with what it costs them. An example of that is the attitude exhibited by David when Araunah offered to make David a present of all that was needed for a burnt offering unto the Lord. (2Samuel 24:24)[12]
God understands our need for things we value to have a cost. He also sees that even though we might appreciate that which is bought with a price for a time, we still have a tendency over time to become careless and take for granted those things we have been blessed with. Because familiarity does breed at least the kind of contempt we call taking things for granted, it would be necessary for some blessings from God to be delayed. Then we have two other issues as well that we must face. One is the matter of the ongoing warfare that is taking place in the spiritual realm, and the other is the matter of God’s timing.
One
of the reasons for people becoming discouraged when the fulfillment of
the desire of the heart is delayed is that they are not confident in
their relationship with God.
By this I mean for one thing that they do not easily accept the fact of
God’s loving care and provision for them. They focus on what they were
before they got saved and/or their failures and shortcomings after
salvation to the point it is difficult for them to have confidence when
the fulfillment of desire is working on God’s timetable and not their
own. When a person is trapped in such a mindset it is virtually
impossible for all the other blessings of God to reassure them. A
volitional conscious change of attitude is the only thing that will
bring repetitive bouts of discouragement to an end.
Another problem related to discouragement when hope is delayed is that the individual has missed out on the vision of the future reality. This often occurs in churches and in families. You see, vision begins with leadership, and it is the responsibility of leadership to share the vision with those who are part of that vision. The leader has a responsibility to share, promote, and explain the vision of the future. The follower has a responsibility to understand, follow, work toward, and dream of the thing that will one day, in the fullness of time come to pass. When either part of this process fails, discouragement and sin lieth at the door. Many future fulfillment’s of desire never come to pass because man fails to refuse to become discouraged and quits.
Hope
deferred does make for a kind of sickness of the heart that is sometimes
translated into actual physical nausea. The relief for this lies in not
becoming discouraged but staying focused on the goal. People become
discouraged when hope is deferred because they neglect the first works.
Then they begin to shut down and cease to work
toward the thing they have desired.
There are three categories of first works that must not be neglected in order for a person to keep from being discouraged and falling by the wayside:
1. The life of prayer- This is essential in order for the believer to be in communication with the originator of the vision, and the author of all legitimate hearts desires in us. We should be praying daily about all things related to the concerns of our lives as well as listening and watching for His guiding hand in response.
2. Devotional Bible Reading- This is different from Bible study. Devotional reading encourages the heart because it focuses on specific Scripture we want to use to increase our devotion to God the Father through His dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
3. Sanctification of the Self- When we are saved, we are sanctified, set aside unto God. But sanctification is a growing process. We are positionally sanctified when saved, which means we are declared to be His, having a place in that heavenly Temple. But we are to grow in our separation from the world and our devotion and purity towards God over time.
It should not have been hard to see that the above categories are progressive. But they are also interdependent, that is, the continuation in each depends on the performance of the others. When a person lets down or falters in one, the specter of discouragement begins to rise up. The spirit of discouragement encourages the believer to not only neglect the other categories given above, but also to lose their grip on the hopes of those yet unfulfilled desires. Faithfulness to the above not only has its own reward but makes possible the dawning of that day when the realization of a delayed desire reinvigorates the believer and makes him satisfied with a significant part of his life.
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I have pointed out that you cannot fall into any of the kinds of discouragement without breaking the Ten Commandments, and you will usually break two or more. We need to explore some of the kinds of discouragement that can be encountered under the subject of the Envy of the Brethren:
1.
The Sacrifice Outside of God’s Plan - Genesis 4: 3-8
2.
The Conflict of Competition - Genesis 13
3.
The Envy of Position - Setting Aside the Lord’s Anointed -
Numbers 16
In order to understand the message of discouragement related to the Envy of the Brethren you need to understand that there are many ways God can cause us to prosper and experience an increase:
(1)
We
can increase spiritually;
(2) We can increase physically (in ability and influence);
(3) We can increase financially (in the ability to buy and sell and get resources to use for more increase.)
In most cases, when a person experiences increase that is genuine, he has been benefited by God, the true Lord of the Harvest.[14] With the increase comes an obligation, for whatever is delivered into our hand is ours but for a season. For it is appointed to all men once to die and stand before God in judgement.
Rush Limbaugh, the radio personality, has a favorite saying about himself; “talent on loan from God.” This egotistical statement is actually the verbalizing of a literal truth. The God who supervised his formation in the womb, and blessed him as he practiced and honed his skills in communication gives whatever abilities he has to him.[15] His responsibility is the same we all have, which is that we use what is placed into our hands for the honor and glory of God.
In doing this we should recognize the uniqueness of three things:
(1) The uniqueness of our blessings from God.
(2) The uniqueness of our calling from God.
(3) The uniqueness of others calling and our responsibility.
The envy of other brethren, particularly in areas of blessing,
calling, and ability is not only sinful, but it also treats the
blessings, calling, and talents you have received from God as things to
be despised. It overlooks the fact what God has done for you and how He
intends to use you are both special and something to glory in no matter
what value is assigned to it by a lost and fallen world system.
People who are discouraged have often asked me about the reasonableness of their giving up? When they talk like this, they are at least contemplating backing out of everything. I tell them that this is neither a practical or viable option. Then I go on to explain that God has a plan for every individual. Whenever an individual refuses to respond to their calling in Christ Jesus there really is no back up plan. On a few occasions people have argued this point with me, saying that if they do not perform a certain job, someone else will step forward and take it. While that may be true, it does not account for God’s foreknowledge or perfect will. Neither do we know the outcomes planned for the impact of our faithfulness on others. Outcomes may be radically different simply based on the influence of the person who does the task. What other factors God has ciphered into the human equation we cannot begin to know. It behooves us to be faithful and to concentrate upon God’s will for our life, not on some others.
There is an old saying; “Time and tide waits for no man.” This saying has a great deal of truth in it. Time is the one commodity that we are steadily running out of from the moment we are born. The tide is the movement of waters that help shipping to enter and exit harbors more readily. In some places, the rising tide is important for certain vessels to pass without running aground. Once the window of opportunity is lost, vessels and men can find themselves stuck in port or unable to reach the safe harbor. Think about it!
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In every place where we struggle with the conflict of life, our dynamic encounters with the problems have three categories of conflict. These are the world, the flesh, and the devil. In every area where discouragement can occur these three areas of potential conflict exist. This is no less true when it takes place within the framework of the area the Lord saw fit to issue a new commandment of love:
A new commandment I give unto you,
That ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one
another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have
love one to another.
John 13:34-35
As all three of these things; the world, the flesh, and the devil seek to intrude and invade the church on every hand, it should not be surprising that they are present in the ongoing temptation of the believer to falter. Among the other effects that falling into the Envy of the Brethren has in a life, the believer finds that they do not only violate first The Ten Commandments, but also the commandments of the New Testament.
Having laid the groundwork for our consideration of discouragement that falls in this area let us now go forward to explore the three specific areas I have identified.
But
unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect. But Cain was very
wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art
thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well shall
thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.
Genesis
4:5-7
Cain had a problem in that he wanted to give unto God what he wanted to give, and not what was justly demanded by the righteous God. Had he wanted to do right he could have traded with his brother for a proper sacrifice and brought it. Instead he got mad and had envy toward his brother because he was doing the right thing.[16]
People can become envious of a broken hearted and contrite spirited man because God is using him and blessing him instead of getting into the right sacrificial mode with God themselves. They want God to respect their sacrifice of themselves in service, but they have never gotten into the right relationship with God where they can truly discover what God wants them to do.[17] It is very easy to be jealous of the service of others as an alternative to facing the changes a person needs to make in themselves in order to be more perfectly conformed to the image of Christ.
Church
work is my first example of this sort of envy of the brethren. One of
the things very noticeable about human beings is that they often desire
to do the things that give them prominence and despise or refuse to do
the things that do not bring much recognition. The people who serve
faithfully in the shadows are the golden vessels that make the church
strong.
People enjoy the limelight. But the things that fill in the background are often the more labor intensive and are absolutely essential to those functions that are applauded. The problem is that the very people so essential to the ministry
of the church are often neglected. It is the responsibility of the wise pastor to act as the instrument of the Holy Spirit in taking an interest in and encouraging these faithful people in their work.[18]
But some people come to despise their calling in the Lord and to desire a more prominent status. Then they have fallen into the sin of being envious of the brethren who have a more prominent role. It is not wrong for a person to wish to increase their service or availability to God. What can be wrong is the motive behind the desire; the attitude toward those in prominence; the decision to follow ones own dictates rather than the leadership of the Spirit of God. Should this person succeed in attaining prominence, their work is often characterized by a succession of failures or hindrances placed in the way of others until they become discouraged and quit completely.
The other type of person susceptible to this are of envy aimed toward the brethren is the novice. In his ignorance and first glimmers of spiritual truth, he is likely to have delusions of grandeur and desire to run where God has not called. A second consequence of initial spiritual insight is that he begins to perceive that his mentors are but flesh and blood and that they no longer fit his delusion of what a spiritual giant must be. The mark of his immaturity is an attitude of superiority aimed at men who have walked some roads and been some places with the Lord. The thought then enters his head that he needs to be in the position these men are in or in a position greater than they. It is not hard to see the principle of the devil at work when he sought to exalt himself above God. The foolish novice is simply living this out on a more human scale.
It should be readily apparent when considering both my examples how continuing in these modes for some little time can lead the person so trapped into first frustration, and finally discouragement. Quite often they finally wind up out of church and consigned to marking time. Pride precludes repentance and the critical spirit prevails.
It is not only in the area of church work that this condition exists. Other examples of people making the sacrifice outside of God’s plan lies in a multitude of areas such as child rearing. An individual is determined to have the perfect family, envying the familial relationships enjoyed by others. In this case, the adult sacrifices themselves and/or the marital resources to the point of the ridiculous. They elevate their concerns for the child above their relationship with their mate. They are determined to be the superior parent and control the child through their sacrifice of themselves.
Needless to say the usual result is the creation of a child that is willful and self centered. In their pursuit of perfection (and control) they ultimately lose not only what they sought but their relationship within the marriage. The actor in such a drama often winds up frustrated in their marriage while their partner is the discouraged one. In the end, they conclude their relationship either in divorce or their lives together in anger and bitterness. Sadly, an important element of this comedic tragedy is that the person has often operated within some delusional framework of belief that their sacrifice was honoring God.
It would be possible to add other examples of how this concept of the sacrifice outside of God’s plan might work, but I leave it to the intelligence of the reader to come to the correct conclusions based on the information given.
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And
there was strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen
of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizite dwelled then in
the land.
Genesis
13:7
This kind of envy that leads to discouragement can be performed as a group. It is the envy one brother can have for another brother or churches have for one another over their success or prosperity. And it is the competition that can result from falling into the competitive mode. The Bible says the Canaanite and the Perizite dwelled in the land. Now when they saw the actions of these two believing men’s followers do you suppose they were interested in the God that they followed?
The Conflict of Competition is an attitude that says I must prove
the superiority of my church over your church; my plan over your plan;
my ideas over your ideas and so forth. The issue of the Envy of the
Brethren lies in the need deal with the nagging doubt about the self
coupled with the desire to garner more and better than the one they have
chosen to be in competition with.
An example of this type of situation I can bring back from my own experience as a pastor in Germany. Faith Baptist Church, as part of its ministry to children was seeking to promote Bible memorization and Bible drill as part of teaching children how to find things in the Scripture. As the pastor I was very pleased with the progress I was seeing in children our leaders only got to work with two and sometimes three times per week.
In a phone conversation with the pastor of an English speaking church about thirty-five miles away, I mentioned how pleased I was with the way the new program was progressing. He immediately wanted me to bring my kids over to his church to have a sword drill competition with his group.
This struck me that it would be a very unfair competition because he was running a Christian school that was now into a couple of years of existence. His children would very likely walk all over my children, so great was their advantage. I could just see children who were now very pleased with their progress becoming discouraged after being trounced in such a competition. Of course the advantage to him would be that by having the competition at his church on a Sunday night he hoped to look good in front of his people and promote his
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agenda. My wife remarked that if we were to compete with him and beat his group, he would never forgive me.
There is a Biblical principle that we should rejoice when the brethren abound and never be envious of their successes. After all, should not the motive of our striving be that the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father be glorified in us? While there is a place for healthy competition, care should be taken that it is never one-sided. We should also be concerned that the motives behind such an undertaking would be that all who compete should be encouraged to grow. Competition for the sake of proving our superiority over what another is doing has a baseness to it that should be obvious from the start.
And
they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two
hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation,
men of renown.
And
they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and
said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation
are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them wherefore then
lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?
Numbers 16: 2&3
The problem in Israel was that Korah, Dathan, and Abiram wanted
to be in charge instead of being willing to follow the man the Lord had
chosen to lead them. They thought they had a better vision and a better
way. The result was they caused the destruction not only of themselves
but also of their families as well as fourteen thousand seven hundred
others before the matter got straight.
There is a principle of church leadership that while any number of leaders may be operative within a local church structure, if the house is not to be divided , they must all be subordinate to a single leader whose role is to guide the flock. This is the power of the title pastor, and the calling of the undershepherd. As I write this on the day following reading an item declaring the termination of people after a short term in ministerial positions is on the decline. If the information contained in the article was correct, it is but a temporary situation for we live in an age of rebellion, where the envy of position abounds, unlike any other. Getting caught in this error can
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result in the destruction, not only of the person captured in the sin, but also in the people around him. Usually such envy does not end in people’s physical deaths. It most often causes spiritual death, either before or after those caught up in the consequences of such sin become thoroughly discouraged.
While it is true that a great reform is needed among churches with congregational rule, other areas where the principle of seeking the overthrow of The Lord’s anointed also exist. I could point to the constant tension caused by the various people interested in overthrowing those in high places because of either the envy of their position, or the embracing of contrary political opinions. I have seen this operative in businesses and in the military, when people sought to undermine the leader and bring him into disrepute so they could get a leg up. And I have found it to be especially prevalent in homes where other family members set about to undermine the God-ordained leadership of the home.
Once again we can look at this issue and see the spirit of
rebellion and anarchy at work, yes even in the church. One of the things
about the operation of these principles related to discouragement coming
out from the Envy of the Brethren is that often its greatest victims are
those on the sidelines who are caught up in the middle of the situation.
Brethren, these things ought not so to be.
Jonsquill
Ministries
PO
Box 752
Buchanan,
Ga 30114
770-646-9580
02050201
[1] It is interesting to see that people would often rather quit their area of service than put in the work necessary to be able to do it very well.
1.
[2] In the Bible tribulation is the normal “warp and woof” of living in a world groaning under the burden of sin. Tribulation with a capital ‘T’ is a time of God’s wrath, within which is the period known as the time of Jacob’s trouble.
4.
[3] A military tern for a manual or book that instructs the soldier in how to perform certain functions related to his occupation.
[4] B_I_B_L_E - Basic Information Benefiting Living Everyday
6..
[5] D. Stuart Brisco used to make this statement. “Life is basically pretty simple. Don’t complicate it.”
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[6] This is not to be confused with ‘name it claim it, positive thinking,’ or prosperity theology ideas. all that is being said is that an individual can be defeated by their mindset before they even start out, and conversely a good attitude has its own benefits.
9.
[7] Dr. R.G. Lee, who is well known for his sermon “Payday Someday” and less well known for a book titled “Payday Everyday” is also responsible for the quote: “The devil always pays in counterfeit coin.”
10.
[8] Dr. Barry Keaton, founder and president, Comfort Care Ministries, Coppermine Road, Buchanan, Ga. 30113.
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[9] Much of the clip art in this booklet was purchased from Arttoday.com.
[10] I believe I first read this account in HA Ironside’s book on Ephesians titled “In the Heavenlies,” published by Loizeaux Bros.
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[11] For instance a number of converts from active witchcraft practice have reported instances where they or someone they knew tried to cast a spell/send a demon out to afflict a person who was a genuine Christian, walking in the Spirit. The result was that the demonic being involved, being repulsed by the Holy Spirit, returned to the sender bent on vengeance for what it just suffered in the unpleasant encounter.
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[12] Quite apart from middle-eastern social custom, David felt that for him to be right with God the gift must cost something. David limited the Jebusite’s role in the matter by refusing his property as a gift as well.
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[13] God is pleased to give those He loves the desires of their heart. But the only guaranteed affirmative response is to the request made within the divine will. Occasionally God allows (does not give) us to have what we should not get so we can learn from it.
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[14] There is a false blessing, which comes from Satan as part of his agenda to search out and destroy souls. This benefit is usually tied to ungodly activities Christians should not be involved with.
[15] The recent loss of hearing by Mr. Limbaugh, and his gargantuan struggle to recover it, demonstrates how quickly what we have might be lost.
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[16] At one time I thought this was the first recorded counseling session.. But there is an earlier, when God asked Adam where he was in Genesis chapter 3.
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[17] I am not saying that what a person might then be doing when they become envious of a brother is outside of God’s plan for them. I am saying their discernment of God’s will is hindered by their sin.
[18] People who are not cared for are left vulnerable to discouragement under the category of the Hardness of the Way.
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