How do you prevail when circumstances abound with disappointment? Consider these 3 tips for surviving discouraging times.
1. Check your thinking.
Many of the problems we experience in life can be traced back to the way we think. When life takes a downturn, our thought life is often the first thing to get out of kilter and, before we know it, we’ve fallen into patterns of faulty thinking. Example: when we assume things are true when they’re not. In the middle of discouraging circumstances, perhaps you’ve found yourself saying, “God doesn’t care; I think He might have abandoned me.”
This is faulty thinking because it cuts across what we read in God’s Word. For example, He tells those who belong to Him that He loves us with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3); He promises He will never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13:5) and nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ (Rom. 8:39). We need to reject the lies that come from faulty thinking, replacing them with God’s truth.
2. Restrict your hearing.
In other words, be selective regarding the voices you listen to. Psychological studies have demonstrated that humans are very susceptible to what other people say. We tend to be influenced to a greater extent by negative words than positive words. It’s reckoned that one negative comment can wipe out the positive effects of three or four encouraging ones. In Mark 5, a father chose to ignore a negative remark which, if heeded, would have had very sad consequences. Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, had begged Jesus to come to his house because his young daughter was terminally ill. On the way there, someone gave the unwelcome news that the girl was dead and added the negative comment that there was no point in involving Jesus anymore. But Jairus chose to filter out this information and believe Jesus. When they arrived at the house, Jesus put the mocking mourners out of earshot. What’s the take-home lesson? Let’s choose to listen to God rather than the negative comments and reactions of people around us.
3. Expand your vision.
Focus or refocus on the big eternal picture. It’s so easy to zero in on things we’re currently involved in, whether it’s bringing up our kids, working at a difficult relationship, or trying to make a success of a new job or ministry opportunity. These can become all-consuming of our time and attention sidelining other issues. As a result, it’s the easiest thing in the world to get discouraged when what we’ve been focusing on doesn’t deliver in the way we would like.
When we focus on what lies ahead in eternity, the temporal things that have been dominating our vision and sapping our energy tend to lose their tyrannical grip. Hebrews 12:1-2 exhorts us to keep our eyes on Jesus and we will then be able to “run with endurance the race God has set before us” (NLT). Let’s encourage each other to keep our eyes on Him!
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