If you get discouraged
“If thou losest courage in the day of trouble, thy strength is small” (Proverbs 24:10) (Darby Translation).
Living in this world, we surely can get discouraged when we face difficulties. Especially when the difficulties are too difficult for us to handle alone, we can get discouraged when we try to get help around but don’t get any help. Then we need to ask the Lord when we realize that there is no one but the Lord who can help us. However, no matter how many times we pray to God, we may become more discouraged when there is no response from the Lord (Lk. 18:1). When we are so discouraged and depressed, our strength will be weakened so much that we may give upon ourselves.
This is what David said to King Saul in 1 Samuel 17:32, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” Here “this Philistine” refers to “Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath” (v. 23). To the Israelites who saw Goliath and ran from him in great fear (v. 24), David told them not to lose heart and he would go and fight Goliath (v. 32). What do you think of David's words? If you were there, would you listen to David and not be discouraged by Goliath? When everyone saw Goliath around them, they were afraid and flee before him. Can you not be afraid, not flee and not be discouraged? In our lives, when we are faced with great difficulties such as Goliath we can get discouraged, exhausted and frustrated, especially if those difficulties have to with our family members we love. What should we do then?
We need to be thoroughly aware of how weak ourselves are through our great discouragement (Prov. 24:10b). That is because we depend entirely on the hopeful Lord only when we fully realize how weak human beings are. As the years go by, we become weaker and weaker, and we can face even greater difficulties than before. Then we realize how little our faith is. Although our bodies and minds will become weaker and weaker as the years go by, out faith in Him must be strengthened. But through our greater difficulties, we see ourselves in a state of anxiety and discouragement, and we realize how little our faith is. At that time, we realize that we can only depend on the Lord. And we ask the Lord for help: “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (Ps. 42:5, 11; 43:5). So when I am discouraged, I pray like this: ‘James, why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed with me? Put your hope in God.’ At that time I experience God’s help in restoring my discouraged soul with the promise of the Lord (19:7). The Lord raises my discouraged soul with the promise He has given to him (Jn. 6:1-15) and He gives me hope again to persevere in faith.
Because of Goliath, all Israel were very afraid and fled from before him. But when the boy David saw Goliath, he wasn’t scared or discouraged. So he told King Saul that he would go out and fight him. And this is how King Saul responded to David: “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth” (1 Sam. 17:33). Think about it. A mighty man Goliath fought from his youth and David was just the boy. Who would win the fight? In common sense, of course Goliath would win. This wasn’t even a fair fight. And our instinct is we don’t even try to fight with such man like Goliath because we know we will lose. So we can get discouraged even before the fight. But David didn’t. How could he try to fight with Goliath without being discouraged and fearful? I found that answer in 1 Samuel 17:37a – “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. ….” David believed in the God of salvation. He believed that God would deliver him out of the hands of Goliath. Because of this assurance of salvation, David not only did not fear Goliath but also he wasn’t discouraged.
This is what Apostle Paul said in Galatians 6:9 – “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” We can get discouraged while we are doing good because of hardships and difficulties. Even so, we should not be discouraged and we should not give up. Rather, we must rely entirely on God and trust Him like the boy David who fought against Goliath. Therefore, we should not be discouraged, but rather boldly overcome difficulties by faith. Let us all move forward with boldness and confidence through faith in the Lord (Eph. 3:12).