Many try too often to carry the load alone. I find it interesting that many born again stay silent when it comes to discouragement. They take on the tough persona that says, “I can handle this and I don’t need any help from anyone.” Their lips might be silent, but their countenance gives them away. Perhaps they are good actors and actresses and can hide what they are going through. What kind of a life is it when one lives silently in their discouragement? I think of pastors and preachers who carry discouragement and would not dare share with a close brother in Christ, fearing that they would be perceived to be weak and not a spiritual giant. I wonder about the godly everyday believer who goes through a season of discouragement. The man or woman who wants to bring glory to God in the raising of their family and with the work God has given them to do, whether it is with their hands or their heads. Consider the single man or woman who thinks that others surely don’t endure down times.
I am afraid that many put up a false front and a false face that paints the picture that they never deal with anything and that it would be below them if they ever did. Something that hit me early on with the word of God was the transparency I found in the true accounts of so many of the saint’s lives. The Apostle Paul stands out to me in all that he encountered and endured for the cause of Christ. Paul was a man who worked with his hands and lived on his knees. He was a tent maker, prayer warrior, preacher, missionary and soul winner whose heart burnt like a flame thrower in his love for the Lord. This man, which God used in a mighty way- five times received forty stripes save one, Three times he was beaten with rods, ship wrecked, bitten by a deadly viper, stoned and left for dead and thrown into prison. He spent a night and a day in the deep and was forsaken by his friend Demas and gave testimony of standing alone, “At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge” (II Timothy 4:16.) Paul does go on to say in verse seventeen that the Lord stood with him and strengthened him. My point is that Paul knew hardship and the discouragement of being forsaken and lonely.
God, indeed, supplies us with strength. The first truth I want to plant in your heart is in the form of an invitation that should solidify our steps and strengthen our souls, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22.) Listen my friend -you can be strengthened and not shaken. Why carry when you can cast the burden upon the Lord? We don’t act as if there are no burdens; we deal with it by bringing it to our Lord. God also supplies us with strength and encouragement through friends. The second truth I want to plant in your heart is in the form of an example. Paul was an encouragement to young Timothy and Paul had those who blessed him as well, “Aristarchus my fellowprisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister’s son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto you, receive him;) And Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision. These only are my fellow workers unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me” (Colossians 4:10-11.) We need one another. The lone ranger mentality will not work. If you choose to go that route, there will be one who will be waiting and lurking in the underbrush. I believe the devil likes nothing better than to see a believer who takes the lone ranger route- he sees it as an opportunity to inflict much damage.
We need to cast the burden upon the Lord and we need to call upon those brothers and sisters in Christ, who God has brought into our lives. Bring encouragement and comfort today to those who are discouraged. You never know when you might find yourself in the same spot.
I am afraid that many put up a false front and a false face that paints the picture that they never deal with anything and that it would be below them if they ever did. Something that hit me early on with the word of God was the transparency I found in the true accounts of so many of the saint’s lives. The Apostle Paul stands out to me in all that he encountered and endured for the cause of Christ. Paul was a man who worked with his hands and lived on his knees. He was a tent maker, prayer warrior, preacher, missionary and soul winner whose heart burnt like a flame thrower in his love for the Lord. This man, which God used in a mighty way- five times received forty stripes save one, Three times he was beaten with rods, ship wrecked, bitten by a deadly viper, stoned and left for dead and thrown into prison. He spent a night and a day in the deep and was forsaken by his friend Demas and gave testimony of standing alone, “At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge” (II Timothy 4:16.) Paul does go on to say in verse seventeen that the Lord stood with him and strengthened him. My point is that Paul knew hardship and the discouragement of being forsaken and lonely.
God, indeed, supplies us with strength. The first truth I want to plant in your heart is in the form of an invitation that should solidify our steps and strengthen our souls, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22.) Listen my friend -you can be strengthened and not shaken. Why carry when you can cast the burden upon the Lord? We don’t act as if there are no burdens; we deal with it by bringing it to our Lord. God also supplies us with strength and encouragement through friends. The second truth I want to plant in your heart is in the form of an example. Paul was an encouragement to young Timothy and Paul had those who blessed him as well, “Aristarchus my fellowprisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister’s son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto you, receive him;) And Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision. These only are my fellow workers unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me” (Colossians 4:10-11.) We need one another. The lone ranger mentality will not work. If you choose to go that route, there will be one who will be waiting and lurking in the underbrush. I believe the devil likes nothing better than to see a believer who takes the lone ranger route- he sees it as an opportunity to inflict much damage.
We need to cast the burden upon the Lord and we need to call upon those brothers and sisters in Christ, who God has brought into our lives. Bring encouragement and comfort today to those who are discouraged. You never know when you might find yourself in the same spot.
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