How to Beat Discouragements

Feb 20, 2019 | Edwin Arceo, Lifestyle

how to beat discouragements

Everyone experiences disappointments and discouragements. I have yet to hear of someone who will say that they are as tough as nails and will not be moved.

William Ward, an English missionary to India during the early part of the 1800s came up with a most appropriate definition for discouragement. He says, “Discouragement is dissatisfaction with the past, distaste for the present, and distrust of the future. It is ingratitude for the blessings of yesterday, indifference to the opportunities of today, and insecurity regarding strength for tomorrow. It is unawareness of the presence of beauty, unconcern for the needs of our fellowman, and unbelief in the promises of old. It is impatience with time, immaturity of thought, and impoliteness to God.”



Do you relate to this definition? Does it ring a bell? You may have at one time or another experienced discouragements and disappointments, every one does. So how do you recover from it?

Remember the promises in the Word of God

The Bible is filled with all sorts of promises from God. He loves you that is why He has a promise for you. Psalm 119:162 (NIV) David declares to God, “I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great spoil.” Spoils are goods that are taken by those who win in a war. An enemies’ spoils makes a victorious king rich! And this is how David felt with God’s promises to him, it makes him rejoice! God gave David some of the most important promises in Bible, most especially is the promise that the Messiah will come from his line. How cool is that?

Reflect on how God has been good to you in the past

One of the most negative aspects of discouragement is that you repeat over and over and over your past mistakes which lead to a continuous cycle of regret and sadness. You can break free from this cycle when you feel discouraged by remembering the good things that God did to you in the past. Fight the bad with the good. If you are a true believer in Christ, then I am pretty sure that God made quite a number of good things in your life. Reflect on those. Dwell in them. They are are like memorial stones set there for you to remember that God does great things in our lives.

Refresh your mind by meeting with nurturing people

When you feel discouraged, the worst thing that you can do is when you retreat and isolate yourself from the world. When you do that, you are like a ticking time bomb ready to explode. There have been a lot of people in the news lately who took their own lives due to discouragement. Where they with people when they committed this act? No! They were all alone.

Proverbs 11:14 says, “Without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers.”

Ask people to visit you. Better yet, visit other people, especially those that you respect and admire. Tell them what you feel. Have someone or a few that you are accountable to. It’s not easy to open up, especially the men.  It is going to be hard and difficult but you need to do it.

Rebuke thoughts that will add to your discouragement

Be sure of this, the devil will continuously and consistently provide you with negative thoughts to further your discouragement. You need to rebuke those thoughts. Set your thoughts on Jesus! Aside from rebuking those thoughts, flee from them! If you have toxic friends or people on social media, unfollow them immediately. The worst thing is to see their post every morning which will contribute to your discouragement.

Do not take discouragements and disappointments lightly. These lead to depression and as we have already heard from the news, to some, it culminates ion taking their own lives. How does it get to that point? Because they entertained the discouragement. They did not remember the promises of God to them nor reflect how God was good to them. They did not refresh their minds by sharing their burden with other people and, most especially, they did not rebuke the negatives thoughts that were entering their minds.

My friend, Jesus loves you. It is not easy to deal with discouragements especially if the cause is so painful. I have been through that situation. I have been with discouragements and by the grace of God He is pulling me through.  He wants you and me to experience the abundant life that He promised each and every believer. Do not make the mistake of letting go. God won’t.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a licensed professional or an expert in dealing with discouragement by any stretch of the imagination. It is my experience dealing with going through these negatives feelings that I am able to share this with you.

Edwin is the Founder and Publisher of Jacob’s Fountain, a website dedicated to publishing content that aims to help a believer’s walk in Jesus and glorifies God in the process.

He also works as the Manager for Merchandise Development at CBN Asia, the producers of the long-running weeknight inspirational show, The 700 Club Asia. He has been working here since 1994. Edwin is also the husband to Emy and a father to his two sons, Ephraim and Edwin James.

READ his other articles HERE.

Man photo created by rawpixel.com – www.freepik.com

Help us REFRESH others with the life-giving Word of God today!


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