I have never been a landlord in the conventional sense of the word, but I have known people who own and manage properties and have come to realise there are all kinds of tenants, ranging from the near-perfect-causing-no-problems ones to the ones whose behaviour leaves a trail of destruction wherever they go.

Emotions seem to me to be a little like tenants. There are the ones which cause us no problems: joy, peace, faithfulness, for example. But there are many more which leave us with problems to be solved: despair, anguish, rejection, hurt, to name but a few.

Some of these emotions may need evicting from our hearts, but eviction isn’t an easy process in the natural or in the spiritual. There has to be cooperation from a wide range of authorities if a tenant is to be evicted, and in the same way, reason has to be brought into the arena if rogue emotions are to be tamed.

Paul says ‘we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.’ (2 Cor 10:5) Harmful emotions feed on the nourishment of our thinking. If our thinking is sound, then the ‘loose thought and emotion and impulse’ can live in the structure of life shaped by Christ. (2 Cor 10:5, The Message) If our thinking is built on wrong foundations and we allow harmful emotions like resentment, bitterness and unforgiveness to flourish, our lives will soon resemble houses overrun by wild tenants.

Driving out (evicting) wrong thoughts and emotions is a tiring and demanding task. It requires daily prayer and a willingness to allow God’s Spirit to search us and test us, to highlight the loose cannons in our lives and the courage to be ruthless with ourselves. My mother, who battled mental health issues in her life, used to tell me to ‘kick moods into touch.’ We cannot afford to live simply by how we feel, but have to learn to live by the truth God’s Word reveals. Only then will the right kinds of tenants live in us, as the Holy Spirit grows His fruit in our lives. (Gal 5:16-23)

Suffering is all around us and is both bewildering and confusing, leaving us feeling emotionally wrecked. When suffering hits us, we often reel, confused by how to reconcile our belief in a merciful, benevolent, loving God with the difficult things that knock us down and with the sheer harshness of life. Often, our suffering is compounded by this sense of feeling forsaken of abandoned in a time of crisis. The psalms frequently reflect these feelings (e.g. Ps 13, Ps 74, Ps 88).

I have been reading recently about the Ninth of Av, an annual day of fasting in the Jewish calendar when Jews fast and mourn for the truly horrendous things that have happened to them – initially looking at the wilderness years when the people of God were unwilling to go into the Promised Land through to the destruction of the temple by the Babylonians and the destruction of the second temple by the Romans… not to mention more modern tragedies such as the Holocaust. The book of Lamentations is read out during this day. Lamentations was written after Jerusalem fell to the Babylonian armies and the leaders and many of the people were marched 600 miles away into exile; it is described by Eugene Peterson as ‘a funeral service for the death of the city’ (‘Five Smooth Stones For Pastoral Work’, P 115) and describes horrendous suffering. (Lam 2:20-22) Yet within that book are declarations of praise and trust in a God whose mercies, compassion and love are not at an end. (Lam 3:19-24)

Suffering will not last for ever and does not have the last word. Lamentations is rooted in history, but it reminds us also of a loving God even while it faces the terrible events suffered by His people. We need to be rooted in history, for if we fail to maintain that perspective and foothold, ‘suffering is like a helium-filled balloon’ which ‘lifts us off the ground’ so that we ‘drift, directionless, through the air at the mercy of emotional air currents and the barometric pressure of hormonal secretions. Sorrow that does not have historical ballast becomes anxiety and turns finally into mental illness or emotional bitterness. History is necessary, not to explain, but to anchor.’ (Eugene Peterson, ibid., P126) Lamentations gives expression to our suffering and sorrow, but also anchors us to God. In that way, even when external circumstances are dislocating and painful, we are held by a God who will not walk out on us, even when everyone else does. (Lam 3:28-33, The Message)

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.

What does discouragement look like?

Discouragement can be seen in different ways, in our:

1. Motivation. Prov 17:22 reminds us that a downcast spirit dries up the bones; it has an effect on us physically. When we are discouraged, it is easy to lose the motivation to do anything – personal prayer, studying the Bible, and having fellowship all suffer as we lack the energy to do these things. Procrastination follows and we find we become apathetic and neglect our duties and responsibilities. We focus on the problems and our enthusiasm fades. We lose interest in life and find it hard to want to do anything.
2. Expectation. 1 Cor 2:9 reminds us that God has prepared great things for us, but when discouragement takes a hold, our expectations are low. We live within ever-decreasing boundaries, our lives retricted by our lack of faith as we do not believe God will ever change our situation. Hab 2:3 reminds us to wait for the vision to come to pass and Hab 3:17-18 reminds us that hoping in God and rejoicing in Him are choices we make by faith, even when there is no visible evidence that He is working.
3. Communication. When we are discouraged, we speak negatively. Jesus reminds us that our speech is an indication of what is happening in our hearts (Luke 6:45) and pessimism, negativity and despair are communicated through our speech. We become moody, irritable and despondent, which is why we are urged to guard our hearts, since all life springs from within. (Prov 4:23)
4. Resignation. The final aspect of discouragement is effectively when we give up. We believe change would require too much effort and we cannot see any hope that change will come. When we reach this level of discouragement, we are in a very dangerous position. Micah 7:8 reminds us that ‘though I have fallen, I will arise!’, but when we are discouraged, we do not believe this truth, being locked into the present viewpoint.

Yan Hadley spoke tonight on the ‘deadly disease of discouragement’. Discouragement is like a virus which may start out in small ways but which is very contagious and can easily lead to depression and despair. In Num 13:31-33, we see how the spies coming back from the promised land were discouraged, talking of giants, high walls and the difficulties of taking the land and how their discouragement infected the people of Israel. (Num 14:1-2) We are urged to encourage each other and build each other up (1 Thess 5:11) every day (Heb 3:13), and encouragement is definitely needed, for the enemy seeks to discourage us on a daily basis. We need to have a sensitive spirit, a selfless mind, a listening ear and an encouraging heart if we are to overcome discouragement.

There are many examples of people who were discouraged at times in the Bible (e.g. Moses, Nehemiah, David, Job, Timothy) and in order to overcome discouragement, we need to understand the causes and characteristices of discouragement as well as God’s cure for it.

The Causes of Discouragement

1. Fatigue. When we are physically tired, we are more prone to discouragement. Moses knew the burden of feeling overwhelmed and worn down (Num 11:14), and when we are weary and fatigued, we become more susceptible to discouragement.
2. A Wounded Spirit. When we feel the hurts and disappointments caused by other people and life’s circumstances, we can become discouraged. Moses faced the people wanting to stone him (Num14:2-4, 10) and people’s thoughtless words and unkindness can leave us open to discouragement.
3. Frustration. Nehemiah knew what it was to feel frustrated as there was rubble everywhere, hindering the rebuilding of the city walls. (Neh 4:10). Frustration leaves us tense and often discouraged. The pile of unfinished tasks which lie before us can make us feel like giving up.
4. Unanswered Prayer. When we pray and fast and seek God and do not see any answers or change or breakthrough, we can easily become discouraged. Prov 13:12 reminds us that hope deferred makes the heart sick. The disciples on the road to Emmaus were facing discouragement because of dashed hopes (Luke 24:21) and we can often feel very disappointed with God.
5. Failure. Failure always condemns, leaving us feeling that we have let ourselves, other people and God down. However, failure does not have to be fatal. David, Peter and John Mark are all examples of people who failed but who found God still used them. Failure doesn’t have to have the last word.
6. Fear. Fear so often cripples us and discourages us from doing good things. (Neh 4:11) We fear criticism from others, making a mistake and taking responsibility. Again, the Bible encourages us by showing us people who overcome fear (Gideon and Timothy, for example.)
7. Faulty Thinking. So often, we have distorted perceptions. Matt 6:22-23 reminds us that if the eye is sound, the body will be healthy; how we think affects so much. Elijah in 1 Kings 19:10 was so discouraged that he felt ready to die, but this was a result of faulty thinking (that he was the only prophet left serving God.) Thomas Jefferson once said that nothing can stop a man with a right mental attitude, and we need to take captive every thought and bring it to submission to Christ (2 Cor 10:5), allowing God to transform and renew our thinking. (Rom 12:1-2) The Israelites in the wilderness spoke of being better off in Egypt (Num 14:2-3) – a clear example of how fautly thinking can lead us astray.

Tucked away in the book of James is the verse ‘He gives us more grace.’ (James 4:6)

So often, we want to be in control of our lives, planning, organising and growing in independence. We start by faith, trusting in God’s grace, but like the Galatian church, we often carry on in our own strength, thinking we can manage quite adequately without God. Grace is reckless, unearned and dangerous; we feel immensely vulnerable when we live by grace, rather than by the conventional rules of society (‘you scratch my back; I’ll scratch yours.’)

Grace, like manna, is not something we receive just the once and then can manage without it. The God of all grace, a God who gives us ‘grace upon grace’, ‘gifts of grace beyond our imagination’ (Jn 1:16) wants us to live in daily dependence on Him and then pass on the grace we receive to others.

So often, we are not gracious. We are irritable, nit-picking, focussing on the speck of dust in other people’s eyes without seeing the plank in our own. So often, we are bigoted, prejudiced, racist and just plain unkind to others, without ever seeing the incongruity in how we live compared to our Saviour. God wants us to be saturated in grace till it becomes our default reaction. Only then can we reflect God’s nature to a world which desperately needs grace. Grace-made people are not perfect. But they are people who know and rely on the love of God (1 Jn 4:16), rather than on their own resources. Grace-made people are works in progress, but they are people who live by faith and not by sight and who are learning to lean on God and not on their own understanding. (2 Cor 5:7, Prov 3:5) Grace-made people are those who are looking for opportunities to pass on blessing to others.

The way of grace is often difficult, but it’s a way of immense blessing and joy.