Somewhere along the way in Western Church history, Christians went from being a passionate people who expressed their fluctuating emotions to God, to a pious people who kept their emotions in check and handled their problems on their own.
King David, who expressed his hurt, happiness, anger and frustrations so beautifully in the book of Psalms, would not be welcomed in some Christian circles today. At some churches, anyone who admits to having doubts or are discouraged due to their circumstances are frowned upon by other Christians, who as of yet, are not having the same problems.
God can use our discouragement to do a Divine work in us
The truth is Christians who love God will have moments of discouragement and doubt and will question God about why certain things are happening to them. Just take a look at Jesus Christ, the Son of God. When Jesus was dying on the cross, He cried out, My God, My God, why have You forsaken me? (Matthew 27:45). Was Jesus discouraged? Yes. His death was agonizingly slow and painful. Did Father God actually forsake Him? No. But the Father knew that He could not intervene in the Divine and supernatural process that reconciled sinful humanity back to Himself.
We must face the fact that there will be times on our Christian journey where we won't understand what is going on in our lives and will sink into doubt and discouragement. When we get discouraged, we often believe that our circumstances are more powerful than God's ability to change them.
What we fail to recognize is that God may have allowed us to encounter difficult circumstances so that we could seek Him and trust Him more than we have been trusting Him. God does a deeper work in us than we really understand because He goal is to conform us to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). Why? So that we can access all that God has for us in Christ Jesus.
What should we do when we're doubtful and discouraged?
•Admit your doubts, frustrations and discouragement to God. God expects us to come to Him with all of our concerns because He cares for us (1 Peter 5: 7) He will also give us more grace to endure these times.
•Remind yourself of God's Word. Whether God has given you a personal word or whether you read verses in the Bible that apply to your situation, it's imperative that you saturate yourself with God's Word. Talk to others who believe as you do and testify of God's goodness to you. Reading the Bible and surrounding yourself with spiritual support will strengthen your faith and trust in God.
•Ask God to forgive you for doubting Him. When we get discouraged, it's usually because things aren't going our way, God isn't doing what we expect Him to do, or something unexpected that we cannot explain has happened to us. We must remember that God can answer our prayer any way and any time He wants and will walk with us through any dark period of our lives.
•Ask God to give you the strength to wait on Him. Sometimes we get weary and need supernatural assistance when we're waiting on our situation to change. God wants us to turn to Him for help rather than continue in our discouragement and doubt.
•Praise God and thank Him for His goodness to you. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV): In everything give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul and Silas sang and praised God when they were imprisoned in Philipp and God caused an earthquake to shake the prison, open the doors and loose their chains. There is certainly power in praise.
As we focus our attention on God, He will help us to work through our difficulties. It's possible that our circumstances will change. And even if they don't immediately changed, we will know that there has been a change within us because our discouragement and doubt will give way to an increased faith and trust in our God.
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