Handling Discouragement
"“But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.” (Job 23:8-9)
Ministry is messy and not for the weak at heart. A lot has happened here the past few months at Acts 2:42 Ministries that is discouraging. Despite years of prayer and building relationships, it seems like people are drifting farther apart and want less to do with God. To be honest, in my flesh it is easy to want to give up and not see how God is working.
Job had awful circumstances. It would have been easy to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9b). Yet Job did not. Job 23 goes on to say,
“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.”
(Job 23:10-12)
Job continues to obey God and seek after Him. May Job be an encouragement to me and others that are feeling discouraged by their circumstances. May I point people to Jesus Christ in how I handle these circumstances.
“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:6-7).
