External Causes of Discouragement

External Causes of Discouragement
By Charles Stanley

Discouragement can hit us from many angles, depleting our energy and productivity. Wise believers will learn to detect its sources in order to avoid this paralyzing effect. Today, let’s examine some external causes.
1. Unresolved disappointments. This applies to letdowns caused by our failed expectations or someone else’s.
2. Constant criticism. When we are criticized frequently, it is natural to think, What’s wrong with me? Yet, unless God reveals a truth in the comments, we must learn to let them go.
3. The feeling that no one’s listening. The natural response to this is rejection.
4. The sense that we aren’t appreciated after doing our best. We can get so tied to our work that someone’s failure to acknowledge our efforts feels like a personal rebuff.
5. Bad working conditions. Many believers enjoy what they do but pick up on coworkers’ cruelty, bitterness, or refusal to recognize their efforts. This can make it extremely difficult to get motivated about going to work each day.
6. Lacking opportunities to shine. A job that doesn’t make the best use of one’s gifts and abilities can wear a person down. So can tight-fisted managements that limits freedom to make innovations.

Oftentimes, it’s the people we see every day who seem to have the most power for causing discouragement in our lives. Read through the list again. Do any of the above scenarios sound disturbingly familiar? If so, pray for the strength to face these external discouragers with renewed confidence.

Amy’s thought…I am sure as you reread this list that you can probably pin point a situation for each of the scenarios. Life at home and life at work and even life in between always has people that you will come across that will disappoint you. The thought should no loner be “That person makes me so mad and I am tired of them disappointing me” but should be “Ok, that was disappointing, but now how will I deal with it.?” If you let it, it drag you down deeper and deeper. If you turn it over to God, he will help you cope with it and keep moving and this will also help you to grow with Christ. The world we live in is a very mean and unforgiving world. Businesses are practicing things that make their employee’s heads turn, friends are turning against friends, and we sometimes feel we get mixed up in the world and are left by the waste side. Don’t let this be the case. When you get disappointed by actions of your own or by others, turn it over and release it to God in heaven. Remember it’s not what the people of the world think that gets you to heaven. It’s what God thinks. If you are living right and by God, people will take notice and hopefully want to follow the example. God is the light, Christians are lamps that God shines his light thru. God uses us to witness and lead others in. Stay in prayer and in God’s word, it helps a great deal with discouragement.

Any thoughts, or comments?