SIMPLE RULES FOR THE CHRISTIAN IN DISCOURAGEMENT
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid…”(ISAIAH 12:2).
Christian men and women should be aware that there is danger in a defeated spirit within us, for it can plunge us into discouragement.

Discouragement, by the way, is hardly a sin. But it can lead to any number of sins, for to discourage is to dishearten. In such a case, we may still go to church, but we have little appetite for it. Nothing means anything to us. Hymns are dull and tasteless, and the sermon is a bore. I want to give you some rules for the time of discouragement:

First, do not accept the judgment of your own heart about the matter. A discouraged heart will always go astray, so do not think about yourself the way you feel about yourself!

Instead, go to God and Christ. God loves you, and Christ loves you enough to have died for you. He thought you were worth something. Remember that discouraged Gideon was hiding until God sought him out and said, “Get up, thou mighty man of God!”

The second rule is this: make no important decisions while you are discouraged. Don’t resign your job. Don’t sell your property. Get down before God and ask Him to take the defeat out of your spirit and the reverses out of your heart.

Finally, go to the Bible and read the promises of God. Read and claim the promises until your heart leaps with the joy of His promises. Remember that the living God is everything. Our victory cannot enrich God and our defeat cannot impoverish Him. Live on the side where the promises of God are bright!

A. W. Tozer