👌 Dealing with discouragement.

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But when desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.”
Proverbs 13:12 Amplified Bible (AMP)
 
“When hope’s dream seems to drag on and on,
    the delay can be depressing.
    But when at last your dream comes true,
    life’s sweetness will satisfy your soul.”
Proverbs 13:12 The Passion Translation (TPT)
 
When your dreams or goals are delayed, interrupted or don’t even come to pass, it can make your heart sick – make you feel depressed. The reason for this is that you’ve placed a certain value on something and developed an expectation which was interrupted, blocked or didn’t happen. We can avoid a sick or depressed heart by ensuring that we are putting the right value on the right things. For example, you might get really upset because that new restaurant you’ve been wanting to go to wasn’t open when you went. It’s ok to be disappointed but if your heart gets sick because of it and you carry that disappointment for longer than is necessary, then you have an unhealthy value system. It’s the same with bigger goals and desires, too. I remember when we as a church were planning to purchase our own building. It was a big step for us. The owner was so happy to sell it to a church. We made a deal with her to pay certain amounts by certain times, and as a church, we started to trust God and raise the money. Someone in the church (and a good friend of mine) came and told the leadership of a big business deal that he was about to have come through and told us that he would give about 3-million Rand (about US$209,000) towards it just before the first payment needed to be made. This would have covered about 90% of the cost. I was excited! Then suddenly, the owner of the building broke her deal off with us because she had another offer. She went against her word and about 2 or 3 months before the first payment was due she gave the property to someone else. You can imagine the disappointment I experienced. On top of that, the good friend who committed to give towards purchasing the property pretty much disappeared and has avoided us for years. I wasn’t as disappointed about the money as I was about losing what I thought was a good friend. Honestly, this somewhat shook me, and it took some time for me to let it go and move on, but praise God, I did!
 
Here’s my point: having unrealistic goals, dreams and expectations, or simply placing more value on the temporal than on the eternal will lead to discouragement, disappointment and depression. It will make your heart sick and a sick heart leads to a sick body.
 
^“So we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen; for the things which are visible are temporal [just brief and fleeting], but the things which are invisible are everlasting and imperishable.”
2 Corinthians 4:18 Amplified Bible (AMP)
 
There will be many opportunities to be discouraged, disappointed and depressed in this life, but you don’t have to take them. When you put things in light of eternity and adopt an eternal perspective, you’ll be free to not be discouraged, disappointed or depressed. If you’re focused on things, or on worldly goals, dreams and desires more than on eternity and your relationship with God then you will constantly need to deal with a sick heart.
 
“…I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead. ¹⁴ I run straight for the divine invitation of reaching the heavenly goal and gaining the victory-prize through the anointing of Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13-14 The Passion Translation (TPT)
 
In light of eternity, it’s pretty lame to get disappointed over things that that are temporal, never mind the things which we won’t remember next week. You would do well to remember that your life does not consist in the abundance of the things that you possess (Luke 12:15). A sure way to help guard your heart against discouragement, disappointment and depression is to place more value on your relationship with Jesus (which is eternal) than on things that are temporal. Make it your aim to know Christ more (Philippians 3:10) and to grow in your relationship with Him.