Daily Devotional

All of us are prone to periods of discouragement. But discouragement is beatable, with God’s help.
In Nehemiah 4:6, discouragement appears a very predictable moment: “So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.” Often when we come to the halfway point, that’s when negative thoughts begin.
In verses 10-12 we find four things Satan will use to cause discouragement and to keep us from achieving the goal God has given us:
• Fatigue due to a loss of strength. Initially, Nehemiah had put together a work force that was well prepared and highly motivated. But when their enemies heard of their success, they sought to halt their progress. This, combined with an overworked labor force, left people physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually exhausted.
• Frustration due to a loss of vision. Combing through the rubble, people had lost God’s vision for the wall in the piles of unfinished projects. Instead of seeing the big picture the workers focused on the mess; they focused on rubble of their lives.
• Failure due to a loss of confidence. Once fatigue and frustration set in, people lost confidence in themselves, in each other and, in God.
• Fear due to a loss of security. Verses 11, 12 read, “…Our enemies said, ‘Before they know it … we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.’ Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, ‘Wherever you turn, they will attack us.’”
The answer to discouragement is in remembering that God is with us. The best way to overcome our discouragement is to focus on the One who is bigger than our discouragement. Our lives are about more than our rubble. Real life is found in the worship and in the enjoyment of God.
If we look at the world, we’ll be distressed. If we look at ourselves, we’ll be depressed. But if we look at God, we’ll be at rest!

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