Dealing with Discouragement
Exodus 14:1-14
Let me set the scene for you a little bit. Moses has lead Israel out of Egypt ¡V The plagues are behind them and they have basked in God¡¦s deliverance from Slavery. They have made their tedious way across the desert and have come to the shores of the Red Sea. Can you imagine how refreshing that first sight of the sea would have been? After the long dry crossing now they feel the fresh breezes blowing and the water lapping against the shore line. They must have rejoiced in that first beautiful sight until on the horizon they saw a cloud of dust. Now in front of them lay the Red Sea- wide and uncrossable- Behind them they can see the dust clouds rising from the Egyptian Chariot wheels.
They were scared, they were tired, and they were vulnerable and they were discouraged. Do you notice how easily triumph turns to discouragement? In a matter of moments this people went from celebrating their freedom to wishing they had stayed in slavery.
How many of you have ever been discouraged. Discouraged about your family, your marriage, your society? I have to say that it¡¦s really easy to get discouraged in this world we live in. Every time you try you risk failing, every time you reach out you risk rejection, every time you love you risk heartbreak. Every time you move you risk meeting up with an obstacle to high to climb. With every failure, every rejection, every heartbreak, every challenge the enemy attacks again with discouragement ¡V and discouragement disables. All around us people are giving up ¡V giving up on marriage, giving up on children, giving up on life. Friends there is a better way to deal with discouragement.
Let¡¦s look at how Moses dealt with it and find some hints.
1) Refuse to listen to Nay ¡V Sayers ¡V It¡¦s a funny thing about when your down. People come out of the woodwork to commiserate. When you rejoice you rejoice with the few or by yourself ¡V but no one grumbles alone. Something about being down attracts others like a picnic attracts ants. You never have to be discouraged by yourself ¡V there are always people waiting in the wings to commiserate with you. This is not a new phenomenon ¡V when David ran from King Saul in fear for his life this is what the scripture says happened. So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father¡¦s household heard of it, they went down there to him. 2Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. I find that there are 4 types of these people and all of us have played the role at some time in our lives. See if you recognize any that are familiar.
„« Pity Party Folks ¡V these are the folks that join with us when we are down and help us wallow in the mud of self-pity. Have you ever known someone who was never happy ¡V there was always something to complain about. These folks love to find people who are discouraged because they feed on the depression of the world around them. They know that the world is never fair it will never give them or you a fair break ¡V so let¡¦s just get used to being here.
„« Angry Folks ¡V these folks feed your discouragement into anger. Someone is to blame ¡V stop feeling sorry for yourself and get mad ¡V get angry at the one who is oppressing you. Rise up in your anger and fight back.
„« Run Away Folks ¡V This is just too hard why don¡¦t you just give up and try something else. This relationship is too difficult I have a friend you would really like. Just quit there is always something else to do or someone else to see.
„« I Told You So Folks ¡V These folks love to tell you that they warned you that this was going to happen. I told you if you took the risk that this is what would happen. There is always a sly I know better than you know grin on their faces as they comfort you in your distress.
Refuse to listen to people who tear you down. People who feed your discouragement. In the world there are two types of people. Dream makers and dream breakers. One group always challenges you to be the best you can be and to rise to new occassions -¡Vthe other is always looking for the easy way out or something to dull the pain. Find encouragers, dream makers in your life and they will help you when you get down.
2) Don¡¦t be Afraid ¡V God¡¦s first directive and Moses first message is Fear not. Now that¡¦s pretty hard isn¡¦t it, when you stuck between the hammer and the anvil? The problem is that fear paralyzes. It disrupts sound judgment, it discourages, and often it destroys. Listen to the response of Israel. V12 Fear makes us say and do irrational things. Babies, whips bondage. Understand that God tells them not to be afraid not because of who they are but because of who He is. Can you imagine the challenge that Moses was giving the people of Israel ¡V I know our backs are up against the water ¡V and that the greatest army in the world is now coming to kill us all ¡V but don¡¦t be afraid. How ¡V Moses tells them to trust God. No amount of money can make fear go away. No amount of power or strength or knowledge will make fear go away. Only God can ¡V ¡§perfect love casteth out fear.¡¨ He didn¡¦t know how ¡V he didn¡¦t know when ¡V he just knew God.
3) Build Hope ¡V the Egyptians you see today ¡V you will never see them again. People need hope. People who are discouraged need hope. John Ortberg wrote this ¡§Hope is the fuel that the human heart runs on. A car crash or a diving accident can paralyze the body, but the death of hope paralyzes the spirit.¡¨ Hope is what gets us up in the morning and what puts us to bed at night. We sleep at night because hope tells us that the morning is coming. Discouragement steals our hope. Steals our will to try. In Christ there is always hope. The scriptures say that ¡§weeping may last for a night but a shout of joy comes in the morning.¡¨ I would remind you that because of the gift of Christ there is no night without a morning. There is no darkness that does not end. There is always hope because no matter what the battle we face ¡V we win in the end. If and when you are discouraged look to the God of hope and see in Him a hope that never fails.
4) Have faith ¡V v14 ¡V The Lord will fight for you. God had brought Israel to this place for the very purpose of demonstrating His power to save them. The sea that they saw as the brink of disaster and destruction actually was the threshold of salvation.
God acts in decisive ways to demonstrate that it is He alone who can truly save us. The great message of this text is that God desires our Salvation both Spiritually and Physically and at the end of our ability stands God¡¦s greatest opportunity. It is precisely when we are at our ¡§end¡¨ that God is able to do His greatest work in our lives.
He told Paul ¡§My strength is perfected in your weakness.¡¨
Joni Eareckson Tada said ¡§The weaker we feel, the harder we lean on God. And the harder we lean, the stronger we grow.¡¨
The harder we lean the more we see the salvation that lies in His hands alone.
