A Journey to the Pulpit

ENCOURAGEMENT

The Devil and the meanness of this world will work tirelessly to discourage us. Even when we find encouragement, they will try to snatch it away. This is a given so we have no other choice but to encourage ourselves and others and find our true encouragement in our Heavenly Father.

The quiet time of dark winter hours gave way to summer. Doubts arose. Was God really in this book project at all? To answer this question, writing was intentionally set aside to see what would happen. The result was that it could not totally be set aside. Thoughts and inspirational ideas continued to invade daily life all of which were related to this project.

Discouraging events like health and financial issues began to increase. Giving up would side-step the inevitable troubles that always seem to come when we embark upon a spiritual project. Are the Devil’s old patterns difficult to recognize? Not at all! It is to be expected that God will allow the troubles, trials, pains and other aggravations to appear in the life of a person who begins a spiritual project. Accompanying those troubles will always be a discourager standing by to take advantage of the opportunity. He may not have horns, wear red long johns and have a pointed tail, but He and his works are still identifiable.

Check with pastors and others who have been in the Lord’s service for several years and you will find almost unanimous agreement. Even for sermon preparation week by week, the patterns for introducing discouragement are present. When speaking about this pattern to a pastor, his face showed immediate understanding and agreement even before the words came out of his mouth. Few, if any of us, will ever experience the level of trouble heaped upon poor Brother Job in the Old Testament, but we will surely see the same patterns that he encountered. Discouragement is always near to hand, waiting for an opportune time. Encouragement was needed but little of it came from coworkers or church members. Something more was needed. What we always need is the awareness that God is not going to let us go.

Despite our personal problems, there must always be that ever-present awareness and compelling drive to move ahead that only come from our Father in heaven. While preparing this book, it was the unavoidable flow of ideas, thoughts and divine appointments related to this project that over-powered the Evil One. Those encouragements from God brushed aside the Devil’s discouragements.

Reading about the Devil’s recognizable patterns might discourage you. On the contrary, the information is included to encourage you to continue when the patterns show up. The joys, satisfaction, and the sense of accomplishing something great with God will far surpass the difficulties along the way. Again, thinking about Brother Job, we see that the end results and blessings from God are much greater than the bumps in the road along the way.

We are endlessly reminded that this earthly life is just a test. The Hebrew people leaving Egypt were given the Promised Land-but they had to fight for it. God did his part along the way, but the Promised Land was not handed to them on a silver platter. What defeated them was fear-based discouragement and disbelief that caused a 40 year delay. The fulfillment of the promise had to wait for a new generation that would believe and move ahead despite the struggles.

Not much is said these days about God putting us to the test to see what is really in us. It is a weakness in our present-day Christianity. Waylon Moore told of a denominational leader who commented “we are many but we are not much.” By that he meant that there are Christians who cut and run when the easy way gets encumbered by discouragement because they are still baby Christians.

Testing us is not something that has arisen recently. Go back to Exodus 16:4 where the matter of manna is presented. God indicated that the people were to go out each day and gather only enough manna for that day. In this way, He would test them and see whether or not they would follow his instructions. Now, jump over to Exodus 20:20 where Moses was talking to the people telling them to not be afraid. He informed them that God would be testing them so that the fear of God would be something that would help to keep them from sinning. There are several other references to God testing his people. Check out Deuteronomy 8:2 where Moses indicated that God would humble and test them so that he would know what was in their heart. The purpose of this testing was to know whether or not they would keep his commands. The tests are not something we are to fear. The test does not mean that God has abandoned us, nor does it mean that He is busy somewhere else. He is with us from start to finish and if we fail the test, he does not reject us.

These Old Testament examples early in the life of God’s people teach us that it will also be true for us. It will be the story of our life with him day after day, week after week and so on to the end or our days. When we fail the test we get another test. When we pass the test we get a new and bigger one.

The purpose of all this testing is God giving us opportunities to prove that we are real and not just full of words. Will we hold on to the hope and belief that he is with us in all the struggles and troubles? Will we endure the hardships and sacrifices and not default to the easy path saying that the cost was too high? As we look at the individual things that could be called discouragement and then reflect on them later, we inevitably take courage in the fact that they have made us bigger, better and more useful to God and his kingdom work. The discouragement spiritually gets converted into encouragement not only to us but also to those who have seen us navigate the troubles with God as a guide and partner.

Never under estimate the value of encouragement. Encouragement is not just a few good words about pie in the sky by and by. It can be delivered in many different forms and you may never see the results of the encouragement you gave.