How to PUSH past Discouragement - Daughters of the Creator

But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

1 Samuel 30:6

There are times in our lives when things go from bad to worse. David experienced this when he and his men returned from battle only to find their entire families taken captive and the city burned to the ground. As the leader of the men—David was singled out as responsible to the point that the men were talking of stoning him. In this situation, David encouraged himself in the Lord.

We also have those times when we feel the world is against us—we struggle in our relationships at home, work, and school. It’s made worse if we have health or financial issues on top of everything else. We have to catch ourselves to not ask God if there’s anything else—because there might be! We can PUSH past our personal discouragement by:

P – Praise and worship God through song.
“Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.” (Psalm 147:1)

This is an opportunity to pivot our attention from ourselves to God’s greatness and goodness in our lives.

U – Utilize the scriptures for spiritual and mental refresh.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16)

It’s helpful to have key scriptures that speak closely to our hearts and minds when we are going through times of discouragement.

S – Share our stories of thankfulness and testimony with others.
“I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.” (Isaiah 63:7)

Talking to other people about our faith in witnessing to unbelievers and sharing with our spiritual family is key to encouragement for our hearts.

H – Have faith in God.
“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.” (2 Thessalonians 1:3)

Bottom line for any of us is that we believe in God to use whatever our situation for His good plan in our lives.