Dealing With Discouragement -Archbishop Benson Idahosa

 

The whole world is searching for a purpose in living. Millions are seeking the reality of God. Multiplied millions are craving for tangible evidence that the Bible is true - and if so, how to make a full proof of practical application of the divine injunctions in it to an individual's life.

Millions on this Earth have simply resigned themselves to some blind faith: “What is to be will be will be, and nothing can alter it”.

In this negative stance, teeming millions have surrendered their faith altogether, relegating God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Bible to the position of a primitive or medieval indoctrination.

Religious dogmas program society to believe tenaciously that God is far too complex and mysterious for man to relate to. How then do you explain Matthew 11:28? “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest”. It says God is asking men and women with burdens to come into his open arms and find rest” 

The business world believes in solving its problems. The politicians do not run out of new ideas for crisis ridden society. But if there is a problem in your relationship with God, my friend, listen, God’s word gives the answer. Do you know that when faith in God is repudiated, people loose faith in society and in other people and in no time, IN THEMSELVES? They become purposeless, restless, and pursue life without aim, fulfillment or direction. 

Can you explain the high level of lawlessness, murder, iniquity and even suicide, which bedevil our society today? Millions are displeased; paint up with disillusionment of society and themselves. Because they cannot find a way to overcome the storms of life, they release the storm upon society. You will be amazed by what a great American evangelist said: “People are at war with themselves." Psychological disturbances destroy a greater percentage of people than ever before. A Psychiatrist at the world famous John Hopkins reported that sixty percent of the patients require mental and spiritual treatment rather than physical. 

Instead of seeing the storms through your financial upsets, marital problems, business upheavals, depression and living vulnerably to every physical plague that ravages human beings, discover that GOD HAS BECOME YOUR COMPANION FOR VICTORY THROUGH LIFE’S ADVERSITIES.

God has a plan mapped out for your life. Hebrews 13:5 declares, “… for he had said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” Jesus Christ himself assured the disciples,  "… and lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Mark 28:20); the word Jesus Christ used was not “always” but rather “alway”.

You can understand from the frame of usage that “always” connotes a daily, permanent presence. However, “alway” speaks of a daily, permanent presence of Jesus Christ in every circumstance, situation or crisis. Whichever way things turn out, His committed promise is that He will be there with you in it all.

You were not made by God to walk life’s pathway all by yourself. You were not made to walk alone. As Dr. T.L.Osborn said about life’s pathway, “There are wild mountains scared by the deep ravens and gulches. There are rampaging rivers, avalanches, slides, difficulties, enemies that raid the sheep, chilling storms and innumerable hazards."

All these are true. All these are storms of life. but the greater truth is that the good shepherd knows every single pitfall and danger. There is great consolation in the word of Hebrew 4: 15, which says,  "For  we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."

My dear friend let your heart be at peace this day. You are not in this trial alone. You are not in the storm alone. Let not your soul be cast down within you.

Jesus Christ has passed this way before. He is the calmer of the turbulent storm. He is the walker on the violent waters. He is going with you through the disappointments, the broken dreams and shattered hopes. I have come to think that it pleases God for you to interrupt Him with your cries and needs. Let your heart rejoice because you can reach out and touch God in the depth of your agony, in the silence of your life and in your hurting emotions. Someone said, “But God is so busy running the universe” Let me tell you this open secret, “yes God is busy… but his business is you”.

The Chief Shepherd

The Twenty-third Psalm has had a whole religion made out of it. Almost any kindergarten child who have seen the inside of a church or read the Bible before can recite it with proficiency.  It is everyone’s favorite.

But in spite of these empty religious displays, the depth and beauty of this glorious Psalm touches my Spirit every time I read or preach on it. It is my fervent prayer that as I share some new insights about Psalm 23 with you and that the eyes of your understanding and your Spirit will be enlightened. I can tell you, you can make more spiritual progress in a few days and months than you can in twenty years of studying the Bible if you act on these principles by faith.

“The Lord is my Shepherd”. This unflinching hit, assures mortal men he is the object of divine diligence. I believe this thought alone should be enough to provide the desired energy the Christian needs on a daily basis to cope with all that life presents.

“I shall not want”. Does this verse mean that King David always had everything he wanted? Of course not! This does not refer only to material things. When David said these great words, he was saying that since he knew he had the best Shepherd of all, he could completely trust his present and future life into his Shepherd’s hands.

“He leadeth me in the path of righteous for his name’s sake.” It is very easy to tell what kind of Shepherd by looking at the condition of his pastures. Christ, the good Shepherd, will lead you beside the still waters.

Religious faith is not transmitted genetically. It is a satisfying experience when the “Faith of our Fathers” becomes more than just a song or sentiments and confidently becomes, “My Faith looks up to thee”.

David knew the calm confidence of God’s protection when the bear and the lion came. When he faced Goliath, he knew he was on good ground because Jehovah was there.

David was a man who schooled himself in the mechanics of triumphing where others flopped. Every major crisis brought him to the point of making serious reevaluations of his life in relationship to God. His secret was that nothing stopped him. His secret was that nothing stopped him from moving forward or outlasting the storm.

When the storm of life hits you, I can assure you the next thing to expect is discouragement. Beloved, listen to my word, give no place for discouragement, No matter what happens in your life. You cannot afford to stop too long to lament the opportunities you have forfeited and cry over spilt milk. Put the pieces together and get going!.

Walter Pope Binns, the late President of William Jewell College, is known to have preached a notable sermon at the college each year entitled, “Irreparable Past – Available future”. He said the storms of life often fill us with regret of the past to the point where we cringe and despair. I love how Walter Pope looks at it: “But God’s person has another dimension of life to explore. That dimension is the new opportunity that God gives – The open door to the future. God can forgive and redeem the past. He can give insight, strength, and new hope for the future”.