Articles
Dealing with Discouragement
Those who have lived a while on this earth recognize the cyclical patterns of life. There are ups – the births, graduations, weddings, promotions, travel, treasure and triumph; and there are the downs – illness, bereavement, loneliness, job loss, disappointment, etc. On the surface, we consider the first category to be the most desirable, for those things are a veritable smorgasbord of dopamine. But the darkness always seems to return, and if we don’t learn to deal with life as God directs, we may slip into the abyss of drugs, depression and disbelief.
To the discouraged, this may sound trite: “It’s not what happens to you that matters but how you handle it.” Trite, perhaps, but true (barring things like hardware issues in the brain). We only need to consider such Biblical examples as Job, Moses, David, Jeremiah, Paul and a host of others to see faith thriving under the direst of circumstances. Such accounts teach us that real well-being is not a feeling of euphoria or positive thinking that ignores the reality staring us in the face. Rather, real strength of mind and character is anchored in a relationship, an intimate connection with our Savior and heavenly Father that is constant and compelling regardless of the situation.
The writer of Hebrews, alarmed by the weakening faith of his readers, urged them to “recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods” (10:32-34). Sometime after their conversion these brethren had a “great struggle” with persecution wherein they were publicly humiliated and materially plundered. Further, fellow Christians were abused, maligned and defrauded – including the author himself – and the Hebrew brethren encouraged and supported them. They handled their hardship well.
However, there seems to have been a revival of persecution, and their faith has weakened in the meantime. He notes, “You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin” (12:4), but exhorts them to “strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed” (12:12-13). What has happened between the time of their earlier persecution and this present flare up?
1. They had regressed in knowledge. “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (5:12-14). Discerning good and evil in this context seems to be less a matter of doctrine and more the external circumstances that are eroding their resolve. It was critical for them to return to an intense, deep-dive study of God’s word in order to stave off Satan’s attack through persecution and discouragement.
2. They were hardening their heart against God. “Beware, brethren, lest their be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion’” (3:12-15). “The rebellion” he is talking about is that of the generation of Israelites who refused to enter and conquer Canaan due to their fear (3:7-11/Ps 95:7-11). As Israel had lost sight of God and focused on the giants of Canaan, so the Hebrews of this epistle were terrified of their opponents and failing to trust in the power of God. The end result: they were hardening their heart and not listening to God.
3. They had forgotten that God uses hardship to strengthen us. “You have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives’ … Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (12:5-6, 11). Perhaps they knew this at one time and it helped them endure their early struggles, but this truth has faded from their minds through neglect, malaise or over-confidence. The author doesn’t pinpoint the cause(s), but such things often blind us to God’s truth.
To bring this closer to home, we at Centreville have suffered some setbacks in the form of relocations, retirements and, sadly, wayward attitudes. I also believe that the two-year plague of Covid – and all the misinformation, political wrangling, fearmongering, isolation, legitimate health concerns, etc. that came with it – has revealed some previously hidden cracks in the faith of some. When discussing this recently with an elder of another congregation, he observed that they had lost a number of members who, in his words, just “walked away in search of something else.” Sound like the Hebrew brethren??
So, based upon the above observations from Hebrews, here is a self-test we all should administer, especially if we place ourselves in the category of the discouraged:
1. Have I regressed in Scriptural knowledge to the point that I cannot see my way through the present darkness? The discouraged typically react by pulling away from God and His word. This is a fatal mistake. In troubled times we need to resist the tendency to withdraw. Study, pray, meditate, associate. Rekindle your love for God’s thoughts and ways.
2. Have I hardened my heart against God? Are your rationalizations for weakness well-rehearsed? Or is your heart soft and open to truth that may sting at first but is actually transformative if received and put into practice?
3. Am I joyful in hardship and thankful for the growth it brings, or do I complain? We have a choice: we can either dig deep and rise to the occasion, or we can wallow and criticize and drift. “But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner …” (Heb 6:9).
