Dealing with Discouragement
WRITTEN BY DREW MATZ
3 Ways Paul teaches us to endure discouraging times in our lives
Paul was no stranger to affliction. His ministry was marked and defined through discouraging situations, spiritual darkness, and physical assault which would eventually culminate in his martyrdom. However, through his many letters we get a first-hand account of Paul’s spirituality and his ways of dealing with the hardships he endured in his ministry. Here are three of the many valuable insights he gives us for handling the discouraging times in our lives:
Pray Unceasingly
At the end of his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul offers up this bit of encouragement:
And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:14-18
One way that Paul was able to endure all of his trials was through prayer. Not just prayer, but constant prayer. Paul’s spirit was able to be nurtured through a constant conversation with God through the Holy Spirit. Strengthened by the Spirit, Paul was able to endure incredible hardships through his ministry that included beatings, imprisonment, and near-constant ridicule. Paul casted his burdens upon Jesus, who endured all things for our sake.
Encourage One Another
Paul was a fiery and fierce debater. Any cursory glance at his letter to the Galatians will show you that. However, he was also tender and affectionate, consistently going out of his way to build up the churches of Christ and encouraging the congregations to persevere in the spirit. One prominent example is Romans 15:1-2:
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
Paul makes it clear that those of us who are not currently afflicted should do our best to uplift those who are struggling, encouraging one another in the spirit as members of the same body. As he says elsewhere in Galatians: “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (6:2). God has given us one another for encouragement.
Look Upon the Cross
At the heart of Paul’s message is the cross of Jesus Christ. Paul is not ashamed of the cross, which he says is a stumbling block to the Jews, and foolishness to the Greeks. When we are discouraged and things seem hopeless, know that God is always at work in our despair. God draws near to us in what appears to be hopelessness and foolishness:
For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1 Corinthians 1:22-25
Whatever absurdity you find yourself in, we can be encouraged knowing that God has done much more with less. Paul was in plenty of dire situations, yet God upheld him through the midst of his suffering, and brought many to the Lord through his ministry.