On the Verge of Discouragement

I think we’ve all been on the verge of tears before—that moment when you sense the tears are on their way, but they haven’t formed just yet.

But what about being on the verge of discouragement, when you sense that it’s close?

Let me explain what I’m learning:

I woke up feeling “off” today. My mind wandered to the things that upset me yesterday. And I started remembering the past and the times I’d been manipulated by others. Then some of the toxic relationships God has removed from my life came to mind. Throw in a lot of waiting, and BAM! I was on the verge of discouragement.

It’s like teetering. Which way will I go? Fall over into the muck of discouragement, or lean into God who is waiting to catch me?

The choice is mine. No one can make it for me.

I’ve fallen into discouragement before, and I can tell you it’s no fun. It can take days or even weeks to get “unstuck.” Thankfully, God picked me up and wiped the mud from my face every time.

But God doesn’t leave me (or you!) to deal with this teetering all on our own. His Holy Spirit nudges us to focus on Him. A friend may call to encourage us. We may “stumble” on a video about trusting God. We may even get a message from a co-worker about something good coming our way.

Here’s what I think: Satan roams through the earth, looking for someone to devour. One way he can devour is by filling our minds with consuming, discouraging thoughts, rendering us useless for God’s calling in our lives.

The enemy reminds us of our failures and past hurts, and he lies to us by telling us it’s going to happen again. So we build walls around our hearts to keep people out AND to stop ourselves from stepping out and making more mistakes.

These walls bring isolation. Now we’re dealing with discouragement and loneliness. It’s a double whammy.

Satan wants us to “roam” through our minds, SEARCHING for all the trash, so we’ll pick it up. When it’s right there in our hands, we’ll focus on it.

God, on the other hand, tells us in His Word to think about what’s lovely, pure, noble etc. (see Scripture below). He wants us to think about what’s praiseworthy. All of those things point to God! God wants our focus to be on Him and what He’s doing.

A cherished, intimate memory we have with God can keep us from falling into discouragement by keeping our minds fixed on Him.

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So when we’re on the verge of discouragement and our minds are swaying, we have a choice to make:

We can either focus on Satan’s trash, all the littering in our minds, and call it a day. Later, crying ourselves to sleep.

Or…

We can cry out to God and say, “Yes, Lord. Pull me in closer to You! Help me to focus on You and all the good You’re doing in my life.”

Which will you choose, my friend?

Me?

No more teetering in the middle of this teeter-totter with one foot down and one foot up. I’m getting off of this thing.

I’m leaning into God, grabbing onto His hand, and giggling with anticipation for whatever He has in store for this day.

And I’m expecting JOY. Lots and lots of joy in His presence.

“The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the Lord, ‘From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.’”

Job 1:7 NIV.

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

1 Peter 5:8 NIV.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Philippians 4:8 NIV.

“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.”

Psalm 145:3 NIV.

Distraction

I’ve finally emerged from the “hole” I’ve been in. I’m not talking about the claustrophobia-inducing crawl space I recently descended into to kill mold where I had to belly crawl and turn my head around backward (it felt like it!) to paint over those menacing monsters that were invading our helpless floorboards.

I’m talking about the hole of distraction. Actually, distractions are more like a swamp with all the slow-me-down squishes underfoot.

I know I’m not alone, hanging out in the quagmire of distraction. We’ve certainly got a lot of things tugging on us for our attention:  Covid-19, politics, masks vs. no masks, violence, shut-downs/cancellations, quarantining, fear, rioting, and wildfires. Just to name a few.

Throw in your own “stay-cation,” unusual family get-togethers (if any), summer DIY attempts, financial woes (lack of employment or decreased pay), and school worries (back in session or maybe it’s not or maybe it is but only online or partly online), and it’s enough to make your eyes jump around in your head wondering what to look at next.

It’s easy to get sidetracked or pulled in different directions with so much going on. It’s like you’re the only piece of candy left sitting in the street during the parade and a swarm of kids has spotted you.

But what about God? What happens to your relationship with Him when you’re so distracted by all that’s going on around you?

God speaks to you, to all of us, through His Word and His Holy Spirit. But when we’re distracted, we’re like a bunch of rubber-necking drivers so busy gawking out the window that we miss what He’s saying, and we wind up missing our turn.

We lose our way and before long, we run out of gas and start walking.

Hello, swamp.

It doesn’t take long for this murky place to zap us of our strength, peace, and joy—no one laughs when they’re knee-deep in the muck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong thing. And there is no peace when you feel far away from God.

But one of the great things about God is that it’s never too late to call out to Him and ask Him to help you get back on track. You don’t even have to belly crawl to get there. 🙂  If you humble yourself and ask Him for help, He will lift you up.

And you don’t have to have all of the answers, logically mapping out how to get from here to there. You don’t have to be “perfect” either. You don’t even need to have hiking boots to get out of the swamp and back to your relationship with Him. God will give you exactly what you need, and He will meet you right where you are.

You simply need to pull your life back from the greedy, candy-sticky fingers of Distraction, and give God your focus.

And while you’re at it, give Him all of you and watch and see what He does.

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV.)

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” (Matthew 6:6a emphasis my own, NIV.)

“Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.” (James 4:10 MSG.)

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6 NIV.)

 

 

 

 

Rest

It can be pretty tough when circumstances in life suck the energy out of you like a leech the size of a small pony while leaving your brain in a fog.

Maybe you deal with food allergies and certain foods the rest of the world seems to devour without so much as a yawn set you into a tailspin of brain fog that only gets deeper as your mind plummets out of control, landing you on the couch for one sickening nap.

Maybe it’s work related; you work awful hours.  Or maybe it’s an unrelenting illness you battle daily or because of the medication.  Or maybe, just maybe, you’re left alone to tackle your corner of the world and you run on fragments of sleep and doses of caffeine so massive even a polar bear would get the jitters.

Whatever the cause, brain fog can be like pulling a tight, wool hat down over your face and walking around in a state of half-air, half-light.  Really, half YOU.  You can’t focus, can’t see straight, can’t remember what you just did or what you need to get done, and you feel drained on the inside of your brain somewhere.  Oh, and don’t forget to strap a miniature, yet just as hefty, sumo wrestler to each of your legs so you can get the full physical effect of your exhaustion every time you take a step.

It seems I lugged my sumo wrestlers around nearly all last week.  I know they like to jump on my feet and plop right down for a ride when I don’t eat right.  But I found out they also insist on tagging along when I switch to eating healthy foods too.  I started on a journey awhile back to take better care of my body (see the post, A New Journey) and getting my body acclimated to healthy foods was like sending my brain off on a cruise to the land of la-la where the fog hovered for days and the sumo wrestlers invited their friends to join in for a piggy back ride.

But here’s a thought:  God made our brains so of course He understands brain fog.  He understands exhaustion.  He really does.  And He makes a way through the fog and the weariness to get to us.  And He also knows how to peel off those sumo boys sitting on our feet.  It’s called:  R-E-S-T.

Wait a minute, did I just write that?  Are we actually supposed to rest when we don’t feel mentally “all there” or physically drained?

You bet we are.  I’m not saying you pull the school bus over and tell the kids to walk the rest of the way to school because you need a five minute power nap.  What I am saying is go easy on yourself and find time, no MAKE time, to rest.  Ask for help.  Tell so-and-so “NO” that you can’t do this-or-that today.  And don’t you dare feel guilty, my friend.

We all need moments of rest.

Even Jesus rested.  Do you remember He was sleeping in the boat during the storm before He was awakened to calm it?  (Matthew 8:23.)

But perhaps you have a house full of tornadic toddlers and a stack of laundry up to the ceiling fan and the idea of rest is as foreign to you as a moon rock, and actually, when you think about it, you’d like to tell me a thing or two just for bringing it up.  Wait!  I’m on your side.  And more importantly, God is on your side.  So talk to Him.  Pray.  (And I’ll be praying for you too.  See, I told you I’m on your side.)

That’s right.  Pray and ask God for help.  Right there while you’re driving home on fumes (not talking about the gas either) or mashing the potatoes or scrubbing the dishes.  Go ahead and cry in the sink of dirty dishes and let God hear how tired you are, how you want your mind back, your energy back.  Guess what?  He already knows.  He would never burst into your life and try to take over, but He will come when you call and sometimes in surprising ways.  Maybe a neighbor will stop by with a slow-cooker full of sloppy joes and an offer to babysit for the afternoon.  Ah, glorious naptime.

And just so you know, slowing down or resting is not a waste of time; something to rush out the door like an unwanted guest who will only embarrass you if your friends stop by.

Do you think receiving a blessing from God is a waste of time?  Well, if you don’t take care of YOU, why would He give you another blessing you might choose to ignore?

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 NIV.)