{"id":16239,"date":"2017-09-01T08:09:11","date_gmt":"2017-09-01T12:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sendoutyourroots.com\/?p=16239"},"modified":"2021-10-13T13:30:32","modified_gmt":"2021-10-13T17:30:32","slug":"when-facing-discouragement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sendoutyourroots.com\/when-facing-discouragement\/","title":{"rendered":"When Facing Discouragement"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When discouragement comes…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hopes and dreams are necessary to live a fulfilling life.\u00a0 The thoughts of our dreams becoming a reality are exciting and motivating.\u00a0 For our hopes and dreams to become a reality we must have faith.\u00a0 However, we are often presented with situations that test our faith to the uttermost.\u00a0 It\u2019s what we do during these times that determines what our reward will be.<\/p>\n

I use the word reward because God has a reward system.\u00a0 He designed us to be reward seekers for rewards motivate us to do what is just and right.\u00a0 Rewards give us incentive to live a life pleasing to the Lord.\u00a0 I love God\u2019s reward system and depend on it because I want to live an awesome and amazing life.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that what we all want too?<\/p>\n

As a dreamer, I imagine living a life that impacts thousands of people for the better.\u00a0 I want to have influence when it comes to peoples\u2019 relationships with God and their personal success.\u00a0 I want my life to draw others to the living God who desires all men to be saved and come to the full-knowledge of the truth.\u00a0 I long to see people delivered from sickness, disease, lack, poverty and premature death. Along with that I want to enjoy good things, and that makes having an abundance of money necessary.\u00a0 I hate having money be my decision maker.\u00a0 I hate money being the determining factor of what I can or can\u2019t have; what I can or cannot give.\u00a0 I know that once money flows in abundance I don\u2019t have to pay attention to it. \u00a0I become the master of money who tells it what to do and not the other way around.<\/p>\n

In pursuit of our dreams we are going to face trials.\u00a0 It\u2019s just the way it is.\u00a0 The trials or testing of our faith produces perseverance, and according to the book of James, perseverance makes us perfect, complete, and brings us to a place where we lack nothing.\u00a0\u00a0 However, the trials we face are not God\u2019s doing, they are Satan\u2019s. The last thing Satan wants is for us to realize our dreams.\u00a0 When we have victories, it strengthens us and we become a living testimony of the goodness and faithfulness of God. Satan does not want that, so he will set up situations to try to wear us down and get us to quit.<\/p>\n

So, what do you do when you get discouraged and feel like quitting?\u00a0 I\u2019ll tell you what I do. I get in the Word of God and started filling my mind with what God has to say.\u00a0 The Lord, through His Word, reminds me that He is my Source.\u00a0 I get encouraged by His Word to know that He has bigger and better blessings for me and that I should continue to trust Him and praise Him!\u00a0 What Satan instigates for my defeat, God turns into my victory as I place my confidence and trust in Him.\u00a0 I base this expectation on Jeremiah 17:7-8 (HCSB) which says:<\/p>\n

The man who trusts in the Lord,
\n<\/em>whose confidence indeed is in the Lord,
\n<\/em>is blessed.
\n<\/em>He is like a tree planted by water:
\n<\/em>It sends out its roots toward the stream,
\n<\/em>it doesn\u2019t fear when heat comes,
\n<\/em>and its foliage remains green.
\n<\/em>It will not worry in a year of drought
\n<\/em>or cease producing fruit.<\/em><\/p>\n

Disappointments come to all of us.\u00a0 Bad news gets delivered to us even when we are doing everything \u201cright.\u201d\u00a0 However, whether discouragement or bad news, we need to stay the course and lean on God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 His Word will never fail us.\u00a0 He will deliver what he promised, even if it appears<\/em> otherwise.\u00a0 Remember, God is a rewarder of those who seek him!<\/p>\n

What do you do when you get a bad report from a doctor?\u00a0 What do you do when symptoms show up in your body that worry you?\u00a0 What do you do when your bank account is empty and you have bills to pay?\u00a0 What do you do when it \u201cappears\u201d that God isn\u2019t listening to you?<\/p>\n

Here is what the Bible says in Proverbs 3:5-10 (HCSB):
\n
\nTrust in the Lord with all your heart,
\nand do not rely on your own understanding;
\n<\/em>think about Him in all your ways,
\n<\/em>and He will guide you on
\n<\/em>the right paths.
\n<\/em>Don\u2019t consider yourself to be wise;
\n<\/em>fear the Lord and turn away from evil,
\n<\/em>This will be healing to your body
\n<\/em>and strengthening to your bones.
\n<\/em>Honor the Lord with your possessions
\n<\/em>and with the first produce of your
\n<\/em>entire harvest;
\n<\/em>then your barns will be completely filled,
\n<\/em>and your vats will overflow with
\n<\/em>new wine.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>These verses tell us to trust the Lord and not rely on our own understanding.\u00a0 By trusting God and His Word our bodies will be healed and wealth will overflow into our lives.<\/p>\n

Satan, the creep that he is, is going to test your faith!\u00a0 He is going to try to get you to distrust God and His Word.\u00a0 He is going to try to steal the promises of God planted in your heart.\u00a0 He is going to try to kill your hopes and dreams and thus destroy your chances of experiencing the victory you long for.\u00a0 He is going to try to get you to say how you feel.\u00a0 He knows when you start speaking how you feel, he can defeat you.\u00a0 You can curse God and let your dream die, or you can confess God\u2019s Word and charge forward until you get what you hope for.<\/p>\n

You WILL HAVE what you desire IF you stay the course, build up your faith by meditation on God\u2019s Word, and never give up on God\u2019s promises.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, don\u2019t let discouragement get the best of you.\u00a0 Do what God instructed Joshua to do when facing a difficult situation:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis book of instruction must not depart
\n<\/em>from your mouth;
\n<\/em>you are to recite it day and night
\n<\/em>so that you may carefully observe everything
\n<\/em>written in it.
\n<\/em>For then you will prosper and succeed
\n<\/em>in whatever you do.
\n<\/em>Haven\u2019t I commanded you:
\n<\/em>be strong and courageous?
\n<\/em>Do not be afraid or discouraged,
\n<\/em>for the Lord your God is with
\n<\/em>you wherever you go.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Joshua 1:8-9 (HCSB)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

However, we are often presented with situations that test our faith to the uttermost.\u00a0 It\u2019s what we do during these times that determines what our reward will be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16240,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[494,1,201],"tags":[630,629,628,220,631,506],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sendoutyourroots.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16239"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sendoutyourroots.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sendoutyourroots.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sendoutyourroots.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sendoutyourroots.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sendoutyourroots.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sendoutyourroots.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sendoutyourroots.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sendoutyourroots.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sendoutyourroots.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}