Discouraged

 

 

Saul answered “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?” 1 Samuel 21

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” Judges 6:15

Discouragement is an ugly, insidious disease.  Looking around and feeling that all you have attempted has failed, that every effort is met with defeat, every relationship a fraud and all hope just slightly out of reach is completely debilitating.  That being true, think of what a fine tool discouragement is for our enemy.  If we can only see what we can see and not what God sees, we sometimes, too often for many of us, have to ask, “Why bother?”

          For a long time Gideon has been one of my favorite citizens of the Bible.  He is quick to say to God, “Not it!” Like Moses before him, Gideon is pretty sure God has the wrong guy. To paraphrase he says, “So here’s the deal, my family is less than stellar. In fact we barely make acceptable and out of that crowd, I am the bottom of the barrel.  No disrespect intended but I’m not your guy.” But God (my favorite words) knows better.

           I easily relate to Gideon. My background is nothing to talk about, my current status is barely a status at all and yet, I have felt God inviting me into his plan. Why? I have no idea. What I do know is that I tend react like Gideon, Saul, Moses and so many others.  The problem is that too often the results of my efforts seem to be as I expected, the sad sorry product of the least of the least.  What results from that? Discouragement!

          It is in those times that I have to remind myself of another piece of 1 Samuel. In chapter 16 verse 7b it says, “People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”* The results of my efforts may not look like much to me but to God? They must be okay because he keeps coming back to me, giving me more opportunities.

          Discouragement is awful! It is so easy, so inviting to give up when things get tough, break our hearts, seem bigger or simply overwhelming. When that happens to you read about Saul, Gideon, Moses and so many others who didn’t see themselves as fit for Kingdom purposes.

          In secular terms remember this little gem.

“If your troubles are plentiful and your rewards are few.

Remember that the mighty oak was once a nut like you.”

*This is spoken of David, another least of the crowd who eventually becomes King.