If we are to overcome discouragement, we need to apply Biblical principles to help us rise above this deadly disease.

1. Rest your body. Sleep is essential to good health and is a gift from God. (Ps 4:8) We need to be careful not to burn the candle at both ends and must try to adopt good sleep routines where posisble. Ps 23:2 reminds us that God makes us lie down in green pastures and leads us besides still waters. There are periods of rest required to restore our souls. Sabbath rest was a vital principle for the Israelites and remains critical to good physical, emotional and spiritual health.

2. Reorganise your life. 1 Cor 14:3 reminds us that God is a God of order, not chaos. We need to declutter our minds from the negative thoughts that so easily invade, taking captive every thought to Christ (2 Cor 10:5). God wants to transform us through the renewing of our mind (Rom 12:1-2) and we can only do this as we come to Christ, learning from Him (Matt 11:28-30).

3. Recall God’s help in the past. We so easily forget what God has done for us in the past and the miracles He has wrought on our behalf. We need to make our stones of remembrance (‘Ebenezers’, as 1 Sam 7:12 says) to remind us of God’s miraculous help in times past. As we focus on God’s faithfulness, faith is stirred in our hearts.

4. Resist discouragement. Sometimes we have to talk to ourselves in a positive way: ‘why are you downcast, O my soul?’ (Ps 42:5) James 4:7 reminds us to submit ourselves to God and resist the devil. We have to do what is right, no matter what we feel. Feelings, after all, don’t last. We need to continue to do what is right, being confident that we will still see God’s goodness in the land of the living. (Ps 27:13)

5. Refocus your life. We must shift our focus away from ourselves if we are to overcome discouragement. Prov 11:25 reminds us that those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. We are urged to be givers, not just takers, and need to set our hearts and our minds on things above. (Col 3:1-3) Keeping an eternal perspective is essential. (2 Cor 4:16-18). If we only focus on the now, with all its problems, discouragement will never loosen its grip, but if we view life’s trials and troubles from the perspective of eternity, they become easier to bear.