The Courage You Need To Conquer Today
What’s tempting you to be discouraged today? Are you having a hard time believing that God really will work for good what looks so bad to you (Romans 8:28)?
Every day, we are surrounded by the temptation to be discouraged. Maybe it’s our job, our family, our finances, our friends, or our neighbors.
Disappointment, despair, and fear can keep us captive in a failure mindset. We might struggle to believe that God sees our struggle or even cares.
When a cloud of fear consumes our thoughts, we might shrink in our faith and do what seems to be safe. We might indulge in the temporary pleasures of our impulses to escape or cover up the pain. Binge-watching, binge-eating, binge-scrolling.
Frustration can fill our minds with so much negativity that we might start to complain and get angry instead of clinging to God’s Truth.
Remaining discouraged for a length of time can cost us time, energy, and our calling.
But how do we trust, persevere, or give thanks to God when the debilitating effects of discouragement seem to be weakening our faith?
If we want to break through the paralyzing effects of hopelessness, we need to be brave enough to believe there is a way out. And it begins by looking up. Here are three ways to gain the courage you need to conquer today:
Courage requires us to get uncomfortable. Comfortable surroundings keep us from facing our fears. Scrolling social media to check out of life, drowning ourselves in someone else’s problems to avoid facing our own, or indulging in our impulses are all ways we subconsciously say, “God, I don’t believe you are the answer.”
Courage gives thanks in all circumstances. We may not be able to give God thanks for our difficulties, but we can learn to look for things to be thankful for in the midst of it.
‘Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.’ 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV
You might be bitter at someone, but grace says there are better character traits in them we can hold tight to. Your job might be asking too much, but God’s desire for growth says we can do all things, even this, through Christ who strengthens us.
When our thoughts change, our negative emotions lift, even when our circumstances stay the same. When we learn to lean into God with trust, we can bear all of life’s troubles.
Change your words. Change your life.
Courage submits to Christ’s work. Resolve to allow Jesus’s words to break your flesh and work out His perfection. It will require obedience, humility, and lots of apologies.
Courage can see eternal purposes in natural situations.
Train your mind to think differently. When we study Paul’s transformation in Scripture, we find a man who was transformed by Jesus’ work on the road to Damascus. Paul learned to talk about his temporary pain with a godly perspective because his faith believed beyond what he could see.
Jesus will have us stretching further than we ever thought possible, giving more than we even knew we had.
It’s time to exchange your frown for a fight for life.
Round up prayer warriors to intercede on your behalf and encourage your heart during this season. Seek the Scriptures for God’s encouragement so that you might have hope. When we recall Scripture, hope will be restored. Here are a few to hold tight to:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?… No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:35, 37)
Don’t let your heart be steered by what you see. Let your life be piloted by Jesus’ promises to you.
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
“The Lord is with you mighty warrior! Go in the Strength you have… am I not sending you? I will be with you. Judges 6:12-14
No weapon formed against you will prosper. Isaiah 54:17
There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
Your strength will lie in quiet confidence and the peace of God will keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus. Isaiah 30:15
The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged… Deuteronomy 31:8
For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose. Philippians 2:13
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers, against principalities, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:10-12
“The Lord is with you mighty warrior! Go in the Strength you have… am I not sending you? I will be with you. Joshua 1:9
And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them. Isaiah 42:16
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
for we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. Psalm 112:7
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
Devote yourselves in prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2