Category: Encouragement For The Downcast

⁶ And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. ⁷ So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. ~ 1 Samuel 1:6-7

Hannah would cry because of the torment she received, but she never lost hope. Instead, she took that sadness and pain and turned it into fuel. She didn’t let it silence her, nor did she let it define her. She knew the loving God whom she served. So she prayed desperately for a child, and God answered her prayers.

For a season, her womb was closed, and she was tormented. But, the next season, she had a son who would grow up to be one of the greatest Judges and Seers Israel ever had, Samuel.

Sometimes our lives look bleak and hopeless. But as Paul said,

⁸ We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

2 Corinthians 4:8-9

In life, sorrow will come; pain is inevitable. Tormentors and mockers will try to bring you down, but when you build your life on that great and mighty Rock, nothing can move you. Trust in the LORD, and He will give you strength.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Turn Your Tears to Joy.

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¹⁴ And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” ¹⁵ And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” ¹⁶ And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” ~ Judges 6:14-16

Gideon was a man not from a well-known or powerful family or tribe. He wasn’t the descendant of a king or great warrior. Gideon wasn’t even a regular man. He was from the weakest clan in Manasseh, and he was the least in his father’s house. Gideon seemed to have nothing going for him, yet God saw greatness in him. He called him even if no one else thought he was worth it, and God used him to do great things.

God took Gideon, a nobody, and made him a somebody. And He was able to use him from where he was. God didn’t tell Gideon to go change and make himself better first. He didn’t say to go train first. He didn’t tell Gideon to go strengthen himself first. When God called Gideon, he was ready. God never calls us to do more than we can. He never gives us a larger burden than we can handle. God gives us as much as we can hold on our shoulders because He is with us. We aren’t carrying this burden alone. Our God is helping us carry our burden.

Even when no one else sees it, or even when we don’t see it in ourselves, as long as we trust in the LORD, God can use us to do great things. Gideon didn’t feel ready, he didn’t even feel worthy, but the LORD saw greatness in him. And because Gideon was obedient and trusted the LORD, God pulled that greatness out of him, and then everyone saw the greatness that was inside of Gideon.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let God Pull the Greatness Out of You.

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¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,” ~ Mark 16:15-16b

Before Jesus ascended into Heaven, He sent His disciples into all the world to proclaim the gospel. He didn’t exclude anyone. He didn’t tell them to avoid any areas or peoples. Jesus sent His disciples to all of the world. To the whole creation.

God doesn’t cherry-pick humans. Instead, He calls us all to Himself. He gives each of us the opportunity to choose Him. To choose life. Because no matter where we’re from. No matter what we’ve done wrong, God will always want us. As a potter reworks His broken clay in His hands, God molds us into a new creation.

LORD God, please soften my heart to You. Help me to feel Your gentle tug on my heart. Help me to forgive myself as You have forgiven me. Help me to see that I am special in Your eyes. Help me to see my worth, oh God. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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¹⁷ But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin. ¹⁸ For though He wounds, He also bandages. He strikes, but His hands also heal. ~ Job 5:17-18^NLT

When God disciplines us, it isn’t to destroy us. God corrects His children with love. He may take away, but He also gives. If God disciplines and corrects us, it’s out of love. God doesn’t just leave us in our sin; He corrects us. Then when we are corrected, He brings us back into His presence.

Jesus came that we may be perfected and made whole so that one day we may be brought before Him. Sometimes, our sickness causes us to need surgery. The surgery sometimes takes hours; it’s painful and uncomfortable when we wake up. We feel stiff and sore, but God gives us the medication we need to ease all of that. He gave us His very Spirit to dwell inside of us so that when we’re healed and we can help someone else who’s going through the very thing that we once did.

The only way for us to be children of God is for us to be disciplined. Sometimes it feels difficult, sometimes it feels frustrating, but if we take hold to His promises and put our trust in Him when we make it to the other side, we will be completely changed. We will be made new.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Disciplined.

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⁶ And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. ⁷ But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.” ~ Mark 16:6-7

This is after Satan demanded to have Peter. Peter then denied Jesus three times and went out weeping. But Jesus didn’t leave Peter there in his sin; He called him by name through the angel. And what does Peter do? He comes running. He runs to Jesus. He doesn’t hesitate. He doesn’t stop to think it through. He doesn’t even walk. He runs to Him. Peter could see his second chance right around the corner.

This is us today. We’re each Peter. We’ve each been demanded for by the Devil, but we’ve also each been called back to God. But it’s up to us who’s call we decide to answer. When Peter heard, he didn’t hesitate he took off running to Jesus. And what did that get him? The chance to repent and be forgiven.

We have all denied Him, but we have all been called by name. And when we answer that call and run to our resurrected king, He resurrects us, just like He resurrected Peter.

LORD God, help us to not only hear Your call but to run towards You. Help us to heed every one of Your warnings and follow Your commands. Help us to watch and pray that we would not fall into temptation. In Jesus’ name, we pray amen.

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²² Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. ~ Hebrews 9:22

The blood couldn’t be just any blood, though. It had to be the blood of an innocent sacrifice. Therefore, no ordinary human sacrifice would do. Because everyone, even a newborn baby, is born with the sin nature, having the knowledge of good and evil. So, God had to find two innocent animals to sacrifice. Now, one would think that that would be good enough, and no more sacrifice would be needed, but that is not the case. The problem with that is the blood of an innocent animal could only roll the sins ahead, or in other words, it could only temporarily put off judgment.

Only the blood of our Kinsman Redeemer could purify us from all unrighteousness and cleanse us from our sins. Jesus is our Kinsman Redeemer. He is our only Savior. He paid our debt for us on the cross. He didn’t come to earth as an angel, a Beast of the Field, or an animal. Jesus came as a baby. He came in the image of man. Jesus took on our form so that He could save us through Him. So that He could take our place, forgive our sin, and blot out our sins.

There is nothing that you could ever do to earn forgiveness. Your debt was already paid. All you have to do is accept His free gift of Salvation through confessing Jesus as LORD and repenting.

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“¹⁰ Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” ¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” ~ Exodus 3:10-12

The LORD came down to Moses to speak with him. God audibly called Moses. He spoke with him directly. He even promised to go with him, but Moses still could only ask, ‘Who am I?’ All he could see was a nobody. Sometimes we get so disillusioned with our good deeds, working in the nursery, the youth, ushering, or whatever ministry you are involved in. We get disillusioned with praying; God’s not answering my prayer anyway, so what is the use. I’m just little ole insignificant me. What can I really do?

Or we get so comfortable in our little comfort zones we become spiritually lazy. We are content with coming to church…almost every Sunday and warming a pew. Moses’ attitude was like, “LORD, I know that I’m in a dry and desolate land, I know that I’m on the far side of the desert, I know that I’m on Mt. Horeb…but I’m comfortable LORD.  I have these sheep to tend, they need me, and it’s my job to take care of them. Could you please send someone else?”

Maybe Moses was remembering the Egyptian he had killed and how the Israelites rejected him, and he did not intend to replay that scene again. Don’t let your past circumstances dictate your future. Don’t let your perceived lack of education stop you. Don’t let perceived lack of finances stop you. Don’t let intimidation be a stumbling block to you. Don’t let people talk you out of your blessings.

God can use anyone. He designed you for a specific purpose. He created you to fulfill a specific call. Moses was called by God Himself, yet he allowed his own fears to stop him from fulfilling all that God had in store for him. Don’t let your past control your future.

LORD God, please help us to overcome our fears of what we can’t do. Help us to overcome any obstacle that may come our way. Show us who we are in you, not who we were before you. Be with us and guide us so that we can fulfill everything that you have planned for us.

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¹⁹ Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, ~ Acts 3:19

When we sin, it’s as if we are killing ourselves over and over again. Sin is the road that leads to death. It doesn’t matter if your sins seem to be ‘less sinful’ than someone else’s sin; both of your sins lead to death. Both of your sins take you to the same place. But no matter what you’ve done. No matter how far you’ve strayed, forgiveness is still an option for you.

Jesus came to save all of mankind. He paid our debt because He knew we would never be able to pay our own debt, so He took our place. When we repent, we are accepting His free gift of Salvation. Because of His great love for us and His great mercy and grace, He blots out our sins. He washes us clean. He molds us into a new creation. After we have accepted His salvation, our sins no longer have any hold on us.

We can become whoever we want, and we can achieve whatever we want. Salvation not only frees us from our past but it also gives us a future. So, never give up on your dreams because who you were yesterday isn’t who you are today. You can overcome any obstacle in your way because Jesus has already overcome the world.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Turn Back.

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