Discouraged??? Drink in His JOY!

          Have you had your JOY JUICE today?  Too discouraged to drink it?  That’s when you need it most!

            I agree with Charles Swindoll when he says: “discouragement is nothing more than a barrier Satan erects between great people and great achievements. I wonder how many great triumphs we might have seen but didn’t because (we) simply lost heart.”

            As we study the example of Nehemiah, we see that the challenge of rebuilding the city wall turned out to be more difficult than anyone could have imagined. There were times of extreme discouragement…BUT Nehemiah did not allow the discouragement to go unanswered.  The first thing he did was to rally the people around the goal.  He directed their attention to the LORD and away from the rubble! In Nehemiah 4:14 he showed his leadership by telling them to “remember the Lord who is great and awesome…..”

            How do we “remember the Lord”?  By calling to mind the things the Lord has said! By reading and meditating on His Word.  When the people’s attention was refocused on the Lord, they resumed the task at hand…rebuilding the wall….and serving one another by working around the clock in pairs.

            Nehemiah demonstrated exemplary leadership qualities.  Each of us can identify with that feeling of discouragement…it can be debilitating at times. BUT it does not have to be a terminal disease.  Let’s face each difficult situation with confidence in God and trust Him to show us the way…to JOY!

            May I ENcourage you to NOT be discouraged, but to allow the JOY of the Lord to be your strength!