Discouraged

“I have been a Christian for years and it seems that nothing changes. The more I try, the less I accomplish it seems. I thought it would get better over time, but it seems nothing really changes. What’s your take on this pastor?”

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First of all how long you have been following Christ is irrelevant. You are enveloped by discouragement. Sometimes it takes only one event to discourage us and sometimes it takes a series of little things over a long period of time. I have been discouraged before, just as everyone has. However I have learned, and the key word here is, learned, that discouragement is a frame of mind.

My discouragement came from not being able to do what I wanted to do, and not seeing the results I expected. The day I preached my first sermon I could not believe that people just sit there during the invitation, (altar call). I had told them about Jesus and His sacrifice on the Cross for their forgiveness; all of them should have run to the altar with tears streaming down their faces and praising God for saving them; but they didn’t. It had to be my delivery I thought. It was something I did wrong or did not do. Maybe I was not “spiritual” enough, or maybe the sermon was too shallow. It was several, yes, several years before God called me to pastor. Then taking the helm of Draper Valley after an excellent preacher and loving pastor I once again became discouraged. I tried to be as good as he was but came up short. Then after advice from my loving wife, dear friends, and our Conference Bishop, God was finally able to reach me! “Be who you are,” they all said in different ways. “The Lord called you; He knows you; He wanted you,” they said. It was then I realized that my discouragement was coming from my own ambitions and desires. I had determined in my own mind what I needed, or wanted, to be. I had not thought about what God had wanted. I had not realized He was pleased with me just as I am. Once I learned, (there is that word again), to be content with who I am, then God was able to use me as He wanted to.

Jesus said, “You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you (John 15:16 The Message MSG).

I am not sure what you are trying to accomplish that has left you discouraged because you have not accomplished it so I would advise you to rethink it. Is it something you have determined to do, or is it something God has asked you to do? If He has asked you to do it, He will help you accomplish it in His time. Remember, we are serving Him, not ourselves.