What Happens When A Christian
Gets Discouraged?
Galatians 6:9, "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."
Numbers 21:4
I. What Causes Discouragement?
A. Conflicts Within The Family.
Matthew 10:34-39, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes [shall be] they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."
B. Giving God Second Place In Your Life.
Luke 9:57-62, "And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain [man] said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air [have] nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay [his] head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
C. Not Being Content With God's Blessings.
Numbers 11:4-6, "And the mixed multitude that [was] among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: But now our soul [is] dried away: [there is] nothing at all, beside this manna, [before] our eyes."
1. Place of Service --- Number in S.S.
2. Opportunities of Service
3. Talents & Abilities
4. Job --- Salary
5. Wife (What Could Have Been)
D. Discouragement Is One Of Satan's Biggest Weapons --- Some of The Greatest Men In The Bible Were Defeated Because of It:
II. Now, What Happens When We Get Discouraged?
A. We Pray The Wrong Prayer:
1. MOSES prayed to die --- Numbers 11:10-15, "Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased. And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers? Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat. I am not able to bear all this people alone, because [it is] too heavy for me. And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness."
2. ELIJAH prayed to die --- 1 Kings 19:4, "But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I [am] not better than my fathers."
B. We Say The Wrong Things:
1. JOB said the wrong thing --- Job 3:1-6, "After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. And Job spake, and said, Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night [in which] it was said, There is a man child conceived. Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it. Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. As [for] that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months."
2. DAVID said the wrong thing --- Psalms 116:11, "I said in my haste, All men [are] liars.
(( I Can't Trust Anyone ))
C. We Begin To Think The Wrong Things:
1. JOHN, while in prison ---- Matthew 11:2-6, "Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is [he], whosoever shall not be offended in me."
2. MARTHA --- John 11:39, "Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been [dead] four days."
D. We Do The Wrong Things:
1. MOSES smote the rock --- Numbers 20:7-11, "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts [also]."
2. ELIJAH ran --- I Kings 19:3, "And when he saw [that], he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which [belongeth] to Judah, and left his servant there."
E. We Begin To See The Wrong Things.
1. GIANTS instead of God --- Numbers 13:30-33, "And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they [are] stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, [is] a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it [are] men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, [which come] of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."
2. DIFFICULTIES instead of God's power ---
Matthew 14:28-31, "And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth [his] hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"
3. We need to have our eyes on the Problem Solver, rather than the problem.
F. We End Up In The Wrong Place.
1. JONAH in the fish ---
Jonah 1:17, "Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights."
2. ELIJAH under the tree ---
I Kings 19:4, "But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die;"
G. We Even Get Into The Wrong Spirit:
1. Spirit of Defeatism,
2. Spirit of Murmuring,
3. Spirit of grouchiness,
4. Spirit of criticism.
Luke 18:1, "And he spake a parable unto them [to this end], that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;"
A Search For The Truth
