Don't be Discouraged

Have you looked around you and seen all the insanity surrounding this election?  Are you hearing all the hate and lies and seeing all the fear and is it getting to you?

Me too.  I'm weary of it all and sometimes I start to get discouraged.   

I don't tend to look at my personal life as a disabled person with plenty of challenges to overcome and get discouraged.   THAT is not what gets to me.  And the reason it doesn't is that I daily remember what Jesus suffered while He was on this earth - and especially right at the end of His time here.  Any "suffering" I might be going through is  laughable by comparison.  And there are numerous examples of people truly suffering in this world who would trade places with me in a heartbeat.  So, my personal struggles with MS do not discourage me - I am blessed to have MS and no one can convince me otherwise. 

But what DOES tend to discourage me sometimes is the complacency of Christians all around me.  The unwillingness to jump in with both feet and risk their comfortable lives to make a difference to the world around them.  I believe the Lord will more than bless those who take those risks for Him.  

I think a big part of the problem with Christians today is discouragement!  We have taken our eyes off the Lord and are overwhelmed by the circumstances we feel we are suffering through.   But is it TRUE suffering?  Can we really claim that as an excuse for being ineffective for Christ?  Look at Peter, Paul, any number of faithful Christians persecuted and martyred for their faith!  I would rather suffer for Christ than use a poor excuse for suffering to keep me from obeying His calling in my life.

Let's always look up and remember those nail-pierced hands and feet and recognize that nothing we experience in our lives comes even close to the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross that day.   And banish the spirit of discouragement from our lives, living boldly for Christ - and backed up by an army of angels!