All of us deal with discouragement from time to time. Recently I read an article by Todd Gaddis of Lifeway, titled 8 Ways to Defeat Discouragement. Discouragement destroys our joy and our enthusiasm. In the Bible, Elijah got discouraged and there are some things can learn from him. Todd suggested four traps to avoid, traps that discourage us.
These traps are:
- the enemy trap, don’t become obsessed with your enemies, try to love them, pray for them, talk with them, and maybe even avoid them, but don’t become obsessed with them;
- the comparison trap, don’t measure yourself against others; there are always going to be others who are better than you in some aspect of life;
- the blame trap, don’t blame yourself for everything, sure some things are our fault, but not all things;
- the pity trap, don’t hold pity parties, playing the victim doesn’t produce the long-term results we desire.
Todd suggested four things to do when we are discouraged.
These suggestions are:
- take care of your health;
- tell God your troubles;
- anticipate help from God; and
- get to work, we will be less discouraged when we “move from the mirror to the window.”
“We may not be able to stop the circumstances that invite discouragement, but we can fight against it in the power of God.”
-Bro. David