They Might be Giants: Discouragement

Posted on March 5, 2019 by America's Keswick in Freedom Fighters

“And it came about when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” 1 Kings 19:13 (NASB)

It musta been some moment. King Ahab looking at Elijah and saying, “There you are. I thought I perceived a troublemaker in Israel.” Then, just as quick as a breath passes, “Hypocrite!! It’s not I who has caused trouble in Israel” says Elijah, “but it’s you and your family who are guilty of the very thing you accuse me of!! You and yours have turned your backs to YHVH and have followed the Baals.” A gauntlet gets thrown…a fire ignites an altar…the Baals lose!! However, out of the rumble a Sidonian princess, who is now queen of Israel, sends a message, “May the gods kill me and worse, if I haven’t killed you the way you killed my priests, by this time tomorrow. Your end is near, Elijah!!”

Ya know, sometimes it only takes one Jezebel to drive the stake of discouragement through a servant’s heart. Elijah put the king of Israel in his place and sent him packing. Sure, there was gonna be some outrage, and Elijah must have been confident that YHVH had his back. But after Jezebel made her threat, fear runs through Elijah and it’s him being sent packing and some forty days later Elijah has checked into “Cave O’Woe Is Me” at Mount Horeb. I wonder, in his zeal to do what YHVH was tasking him to do did it ever cross Elijah’s mind to count the cost of what he was about to do?

When we made the decision to answer that call of salvation, did it cross our minds on what it was gonna cost us? If we look at a passage of Scripture we find in Luke’s Gospel, we’ll see Jesus laying out something to take into account. “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). 20^th century theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, would say of this, “We cannot follow Christ unless we are prepared to accept and affirm that breach as a fait accompli (done deal). It is no arbitrary choice on the disciple’s part, but Christ himself, who compels him thus to break with his past.” (Go ahead, scratch your head, it’s okay)

So where can we go and get good counsel when discouragement hits us and we wanna stop paying the cost of being a Christian? Well check out my list here, lets start with something simple like…

“Blessed are,

The poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

The gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

The merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

The pure in heart, for they shall see God.

The peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

You when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.” (Matthew 5:3-11)

If any of us ever thinks that our God doesn’t understand that we get discouraged from time to time then maybe that’s a good time to put our faces in our Bibles instead of our hands exclaiming “O’ woe is me.” There are some stories about those who did great things, got discouraged afterwards and still, through the encouragement of a loving God, went on to do great things. The cool part is they were ordinary folks equipped to extraordinary things. What makes you so special? Jesus Christ that’s who. Check this out…

“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for they persecuted the prophets before you.” When Jesus said this, His audience knew of those whom He spoke of. Elijah was one of THE main men of God that they would have learned of. For us, well I say we got Bonhoeffer. He went up against Nazi Germany at a time when God was pretty unpopular and was able to still share the Gospel through any discouragement he came up against himself.

So should it be for us today. We live in a time where folks are rewriting Christianity to fit a narrative that is full of deceit. Many of us know what TRUTH is. Our calling in this is to help guide others back to the Mount and let Jesus Christ ask the question, “Why are you here?” Amen?

Written by Chris Hughes: Chris, a graduate of The Colony of Mercy (11-2003) has been married for 25+ years (Kathy), has a married son (Kevin) and a daughter in college (Karen). He has been a Freedom Fighter contributor since 2008.

The Daily Bible Reading: Exodus 39-40, James 5| You can download our 2018 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here

Daily Quote: “We live in potentially discouraging days. But arresting discouragement before it ever gets on the property of our hearts and mind will keep it from taking over and stopping the work God is doing in and through us.“ — Dr. David Jeremiah

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” – Psalm 27:8