Defy That Discouraging Voice
When you read the psalms of David, you know that even a person whom God calls "a man after My own heart" is susceptible to discouragement. The pathway down to discouragement is an easy one, a slippery slope, and if we let discouragement take us captive, it will hold us prisoners. When you feel as though you're never good enough, when an illness isn't going away, when people are talking down about you, and then you join in with your own negative, critical thoughts about yourself, it drains the life and power out of you. The enemy will try to keep you distracted from what God says about you by reminding you of how your life doesn't measure up.
So how do you break the chain of discouragement? In Psalm 43, David begins to talk about his overwhelming feelings of oppression and rejection, even a sense of darkness and mourning. But suddenly there's a complete turnaround in his prayer. It's as though he stops in his tracks, wheels around, and defies that discouraging voice. He challenges those negative situations with eyes that begin to focus on God dwelling on His holy mountain, the God who is David's "joy and delight." He talks to himself and says, "Why, my soul, are you discouraged? Why so sad?" Then he declares, "I will put my hope in God. I will praise Him again-my Savior and my God."
David realized, just as we must realize, that God has wired us for power, but we have to switch it on. Romans 10:9-10 not only tells you how to get wired, but it tells you how to flow in the power. The apostle Paul says, "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." If you are a believer today, you have the Lord Jesus living inside you. The Spirit of God dwells inside you, so you're fully wired.
Now switch on the power. When you feel that you're never good enough, believe with your heart and confess with your words, "No, I'm fearfully and wonderfully made." When you start feeling sick, declare, "No, God is my healer." When people are talking down about you, confess, "No, I don't listen to that. I only repeat what God says about me. He says I'm His masterpiece. That's what I believe in my heart!" Use your words as weapons to walk in power, and you can overcome every discouragement, climb every mountain, and walk through every valley.
So how do you break the chain of discouragement? In Psalm 43, David begins to talk about his overwhelming feelings of oppression and rejection, even a sense of darkness and mourning. But suddenly there's a complete turnaround in his prayer. It's as though he stops in his tracks, wheels around, and defies that discouraging voice. He challenges those negative situations with eyes that begin to focus on God dwelling on His holy mountain, the God who is David's "joy and delight." He talks to himself and says, "Why, my soul, are you discouraged? Why so sad?" Then he declares, "I will put my hope in God. I will praise Him again-my Savior and my God."
David realized, just as we must realize, that God has wired us for power, but we have to switch it on. Romans 10:9-10 not only tells you how to get wired, but it tells you how to flow in the power. The apostle Paul says, "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." If you are a believer today, you have the Lord Jesus living inside you. The Spirit of God dwells inside you, so you're fully wired.
Now switch on the power. When you feel that you're never good enough, believe with your heart and confess with your words, "No, I'm fearfully and wonderfully made." When you start feeling sick, declare, "No, God is my healer." When people are talking down about you, confess, "No, I don't listen to that. I only repeat what God says about me. He says I'm His masterpiece. That's what I believe in my heart!" Use your words as weapons to walk in power, and you can overcome every discouragement, climb every mountain, and walk through every valley.