This is a "letter" I want to write to someone who is discouraged.
You have worked so hard to do the right thing. You have bent and not broken. You have not compromised and have not given up- and now you are discouraged. Your heart is broken and you think your life is out of control- but its not. You are too shattered right now to be able to believe or receive these words but later you will see that God's plans are not hindered by this delay. God is never hindered by circumstances. The enemy is making a push like he always does but he will not prevail. God will bring you good through this. "Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."(Joshua 1:9, NKJV)
Sometimes we all get discouraged. The enemy of our souls tries to stifle our spiritual growth, the love we express to others, our love for God, and our desire to do the right thing. Unfortunately human beings are often used by the enemy- he manipulates them to bring hurt. The enemy tries to wound us in areas of our deepest fears, doubts, and past pains. The enemy seeks to discourage us and tempt us to give up. We will all go through times of discouragement and this is normal.
It is difficult to remember when you are walking through the valley of the shadow of death and cannot see a way out that the Lord is with you. I just want you to know that the Lord is close to you right now. If there is any way you can spend 20 minutes with him in private and just sit with him it would be of great help to you. Picture yourself leaning against your Heavenly Father's chest and sit silently. Sometimes when we are sad, wounded, discouraged, or hopeless the best thing to do is just sit with the Lord.
I also want you to know about a Psalm that is precious to me when I go through times of hurt or brokenness. Its Psalm 34:18 and it says, "The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit."(NKJV) Another version says, "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed."(NLT) It is so encouraging and I've found it to be so true that the Lord draws close to us when we are hurting. Take the time to be with Him right now and allow his presence to comfort you, heal you, and give you hope.
I also want you to know that the Lord will not leave you forever in the situation you are in. Keep seeking him, stay faithful, and allow him time to work in your circumstances- trust him beyond what you can see with your eyes and understand with your mind. Our perception is so limited. This is why its important to read the Bible so that we can learn truths that are above and beyond what we can see, feel, or understand.
In fact, we can see in this very same Psalm in the verses directly after the one that says God is close to the brokenhearted, that God starts off talking about encouragement- but then goes right into the SOLUTION he will bring as we continue to walk faithfully before Him. Look at this:
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
20 He guards all his bones;
Not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
22 The LORD redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.(NKJV)
So, he wants you to be encouraged this day and know that He is close to you when life shatters you - but He also wants you to see the future as you can see outlined in verses 19-22 above. There is comfort in the Lord- but there is also future deliverance you will be able to see with your eyes and understand with your mind.
Let His love comfort you now- He brought you to see this blog post- He wanted you to be encouraged but He also wanted you to see that in the future you will understand... you were RIGHT to trust in Him.
Let's GO God!
(Scriptures provided by www.BibleGateway.com and www.Biblos.com, New King James Version of the Bible is copyrighted by Thomas Nelson and the New Living Translation is copyrighted by Tyndale House publishing)
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