How To Face Discouragement

How To Face Discouragement

I don’t know about you, but I often feel like throwing in the towel when I’m facing insurmountable obstacles. I was facing one the other day when I happened upon this passage from Luke. As soon as I read it, a modicum of hope appeared out of the darkness.

I’d read the parable before, but this time it stuck. I realized I needed to add the word “seemingly” before “insurmountable,” but only if I prayed and believed, really believed, in everything that Jesus is saying.

Here’s the parable. Jesus’ message couldn’t be clearer. Whenever we face discouragement, we need to turn to Him.

The Parable Of The Persistent Widow

Luke 18: 1-8

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’

“And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”

Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

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Psalm 13 also speaks to those who feel forgotten and rejected, those of us who may be going through The Dark Night Of The Soul.

And for those who question the existence of a kind and merciful God and are truly looking for answers, I strongly recommend you listen to the Wartime BBC Broadcasts Of C.S. Lewis. You’ll find an entire page with a link to every broadcast here.