Unfortunately very few people escape discouragement. I heard a story the other day about a baseball game. The score was 14 to nothing. The players on the losing team understandably appeared dejected and somber, except for one player. He was sitting on the bench with a big wide grin on his face. When asked if he wasn’t discouraged, he replied, “Heck no, we haven’t even been to bat yet”. You gotta love it!
I think discouragement is a tool of the darkest of forces and is a significant factor in our not even attempting, much less achieving great things. In fact, one of the names for Satan in the Bible is “discourager”. He desperately wants us to fail as he has failed.
If we assume an attitude of defeat we will be defeated. If we fail to start the race we’ll never finish it. I think the best tool that we have in our arsenal is faith. It has been said that Noah preached over a hundred and twenty years without one convert, right up until the day he loaded up his family and got ready for the boat ride of his life.
Do you think Noah was discouraged? Did “his” ministry fail? Hardly! The stubbornness of the world, Noah’s unending faith, God’s willingness to patiently wait and keep extending an offer of redemption over and again despite of the world’s rejection of his grace, and His patience finally running out, followed by His destruction of the world and everything in it save those few righteous souls who had faith in Him are all now recorded for us to study forever. Why even today many thousands of years later, we are still gleaning lessons from his example. Take note, not one soul who ridiculed him is remembered today.
The Chambers brothers had a song out in the early 60′s called “People Get Ready”. I love that song. The lyrics tell us that a train is a coming and we should just get on board. People ignored Noah when he urged them with every ounce of his fiber to do just that, to get on board. They ignored him and continued partying and drinking, and who knows what else right up until the day the Lord said, “Enough!”
There is yet time for all of us to get on board; as you are reading this, keep in mind the train has not left the station without us and we haven’t even been to bat yet.
I like what Theodore Roosevelt said “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daringly great . . . “
Hmmm . . . There are many worthy causes and the arena calls. Will you answer it by daring to be great?
Don’t be timid, remember the lesson from Noah and be comforted; we never have to enter an arena alone.
Phil. 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything
by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known to God;
and the peace of God, which surpasses
all understanding, will guard
your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus.