Every Monday my mom and I do a bible study together. We are currently working through the book “Transformed by Gods Word” in the Women of The Word series. The last chapter we did was all about discouragement and how it can be so easy to become discouraged about things in our lives. This chapter talked about how we should be encouraged by opposition from Satan. Satan especially opposes us if we are doing something worthwhile for the Lord. Satan will tell us that we are wasting our time and that we won’t see any lasting results. If we have sinned, he whispers that God can’t possibly use us again.
My mom and I are very much alike in the way that we will throw ourselves whole heartedly into something we feel called or lead to do. This can be very beneficial but also make us more susceptible to the feeling of discouragement. When we throw ourselves wholeheartedly into Christian service, Satan will fight us with every weapon he can muster. In a football game the opponents don’t run into the stands and tackle the people sitting on the bench, they go after the quarterback, or the receivers, the playmakers and the ones scoring. Satan isn’t concerned with the Christians sitting on the sidelines but when you throw yourself into the battle he will fight you with everything he can come up with. Instead of being discouraged about this, try to be encouraged. If Satan is fighting you, you’re obviously doing something right. God tells us that we will reap a harvest if we don’t give up.
Paul had plenty of reasons throughout his journey to feel discouraged. His plan was not always Gods plan. Paul ends his sentence in 1 Corinthians 16:7, “..if the Lord permits.” I pray that one day I can rely on God the way Paul did. Paul was okay with plans changing, he fully leaves all his plans up to the will of the Lord.
“I know the fascination of having a programme, and having everything in order, and knowing where we are going; but let us leave room at any rate for the interference of God.” (Morgan)
Paul knew that opposition often accompanies opportunities. Christians get discouraged when we focus on the problem we are having rather than on the power of God. Paul rejoiced! He rejoiced that the Lord used his struggles to accomplish good things! Paul could have very easily focused on the destruction, but instead he focused on the eternal life that would not only be his but that was being brought forth to other people. When we let discouragement consume us and overwhelm us in our walk, it not only robs us from God’s blessings but it can also rob those closest to us of blessings as well.
I always hear people talking about God opening this door or that door. Or God will open a door for you when you do this one thing. I’ve always liked that analogy but after reading this chapter about discouragement and about Paul’s faith and wisdom it has shown me a whole new way to look at the “doors” God opens for us. My mom and I are the type of people that believe there isn’t much point in doing things half way, or to half of your ability. Like I mentioned before, whatever it is we are doing, working out, painting, mission work, studying, we will jump in full heartedly, 1000%. When you do this you are risking feeling disappointed or discouraged. Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “..a great door for effective work has opened.” The words “great” and “effective” are so important here. He could have said, “… a door has opened” or “…an average looking door just opened with random stuff behind it” but he says, “…a great door for effective work has opened.” Recently my mom whole heartedly followed a calling she had to volunteer. When this volunteer work didn’t go according to the plan she had for herself, God reminded her of His plan. This could have been a moment of complete destruction and discouragement, but, like Paul she fixed her eyes on the Lord and stayed focused on the eternal instead of the temporary. This thought about doors and rooms and houses came into my head. If God put it there, or made a door, or gave us an opportunity, it is great. God is great and nothing he does is without purpose. The way I look at it, you walk through doors your whole life. Your house is full of doors and rooms, each room a different size and for a different purpose. These rooms make up your house. So when God opened this great door for my mom to volunteer, she walked through it. This room was small and did not take her long to walk through. Although it was a small room and her time in it was short, it was effective. Another door will open for my mom in Gods timing. The great door he opens next, and the room he brings her into could be huge! It might be the biggest room in the house and it might take her a long time to walk through this room but every single step she will take is effective. The door to the small room may have closed but it didn’t disappear. It is a room in her house. All of these experiences, opportunities, volunteering, and service are building your house.
I have this vision where I am in Heaven and I’m hanging out with God in his workshop. He pulls out this big poster and unrolls it onto this wooden table and it’s a layout of the house I have built. I’m looking down at this layout and I notice that the rooms are labeled, “World Race Room”, “Nicaragua Room”, “College Room”, and so on. The rooms in my house are laid out in a way that makes sense. You don’t have your master bathroom connected to your workout room and your workout room connected to your kitchen, because that wouldn’t make sense. The order of the rooms make sense when you walk through them, and the size of them makes sense. I am so encouraged by this. The Lord says we will reap a harvest if you don’t give up. So don’t give up when something doesn’t go according to your plan. When God doesn’t do what “we want” it’s not easy. It’s never going to be. But Faith is the conviction that God knows more than we do about life and he will get us through it, in his timing, according to his plan.
Be a blessing to people. Even if it is for a short time, even if you don’t always get to see the outcome. “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.” (Helen Keller). My mom has one of the biggest hearts for people. She cares and loves for people more than anyone I have ever met in my life. She could be thrown into any situation, with any group of people and be there for all of five minutes and when she leaves, those people will feel more loved than they have ever felt before. God has given her such a loving heart that I admire so dearly. Something I have had to learn from my mom is that as much as I wish I could save everyone in the world, I just can’t. Only God can save, but I am so blessed that he uses me for his work. My mom is very good at making you feel important and special, and she doesn’t do it just to do it, she very genuinely wants you to know how important and special you are, no matter who you are. If you go through life and you can say that you saved one person, you made a difference. My mom recently shared a story with me about some starfish. There is a man walking along the beach and there are thousands and thousands of starfish that have washed up on the shore. As he was walking he began picking up the starfish and tossing them back into the ocean. Another man saw him doing this and walked over and said, “You can’t save all of these starfish, so how can you possibly be making a difference?” The man bent down, picking up another starfish and tossed it into the ocean, thus saving its life. He looked at the other man and said, “I just made a difference to that one.”
Be encouraged. Be a blessed. Walk through new doors. Save a starfish. Build your home. And keep your eyes fixed upon the Lord.
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
