Dear Friends,
The other day I met with someone who was going through the
valley of discouragement. He felt like the Psalmist who at one time believed
his heart and flesh had failed him, Psalm 73:26. He was running on empty and there was nothing
left in his spiritual tank to address his situation. He wanted out: out of his
condition, out of his situation, and maybe even out of his life.
Did you ever feel like that? Discouragement is something
that all of us have faced at one time or another. It is hard to avoid. It seems like it’s
always waiting around the corner, ready to dart out and bring us to our
knees.
Winston Churchill knew what it was to face discouragement.
Those of you who have seen the movie “The Darkest Hour”, the story of
Churchill’s remarkable leadership in World War 2, know that he had every reason
to give in to discouragement, as he and England faced such overwhelming odds.
Many in England had given up hope that England could be saved from the Nazi
onslaught taking place on European soil. But Churchill refused to accept defeat
and instead he rallied them to victory and England was saved.
After the War, Churchill was invited back to Harrow, his
old school where he had spent his boyhood years. The headmaster had told the
boys that Churchill was coming and that he would give an immortal speech that
they would long remember. “Bring your notebooks”, he told them and “copy down
everything he says. You will want to pass it along”. Well, the day came and Churchill
arrived. As he stood there looking at the rough wooden benches in which he had
once carved his initials many years ago, he no doubt saw in his memory a little
boy who had sat there many years before. He was that boy - a shy, skinny,
little kid - named Winston Churchill, who stuttered and lacked self-confidence,
but who would go on to become one of the greatest masters of speech in modern
history.
He noted how bright they looked, but he realized that life
could bring them plenty of trouble and discouragement. So he made his speech. “Never
give in”, he said. “Never give in. Never, never, never”. And then he sat down.
One sentence. Three words and yet an immortal speech had been made which they
and the world would remember until the end of their days.
That is a good message for all of us. It is natural to
think that we can outrun our problems, but we can never win that race for
sooner or later our problems will overtake us. Running from our problems is
like trying to out run our shadow. They are always going to follow us.
Joni Erickson Tada writes “When life is rosy, we may slide by
with knowing about Jesus, with imitating him and quoting him and speaking of
him. But only in suffering will we know Jesus.” We learn things about God in
suffering that we can’t learn any other way.
God could have kept Joseph out of jail (Genesis 39:20-22),
kept Daniel out of the lion’s den (Daniel 6:16-23), kept Jeremiah from being
tossed into a slimy pit (Jeremiah 38:6) kept Paul from being shipwrecked three
times (2 Corinthians 11:25), and kept the three Hebrew young men from being
thrown into the blazing furnace (Daniel 3:1-26), but he didn’t. He let those problems happen,
and every one of those persons was drawn closer to God as a result.
Regardless of the cause, none of our problems could happen
without God’s permission. Everything that happens to a child of God is Father
filtered, and He intends to use it for good even when Satan and others mean it
for bad.
When tempted to grow discouraged remember, like Churchill,
to resist retreat, and instead run into the arms of almighty God
Yes, as the Psalmist says, “My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and
my portion forever”. Psalm 73:26
Yes in God we have a present source of help in times of trouble
and because we do, we can, as the author of Hebrews writes “Draw near with
confidence to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and may find grace
to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15.
And yes, I might add, “Never doubt in the dark what God
told you in the light.”
Yours in faith and friendship because of Jesus,
Pastor Tom
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