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"Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
For the help of His countenance."
(Psalm 42:5)
Last week at the Dunham Summit in Orlando, FL, the CEO of the Dunham + Co, Trent Dunham, shared that all leaders face challenges, but if you are Christian and you lead, then you will have even more challenges. He pointed out that we have, in addition to the normal trials and temptations in this life, the devil who constantly seeks to trip us up. One of the powerful tactics he uses (unfortunately rather effectively) is the weapon of discouragement.
Are you serving the Lord, giving your best, and yet feel down and discouraged? It could be that the reason you are feeling this way is not that you have done anything wrong; rather, it could be you are trying to do the right thing, and you have hell's attention. We often think that we must have sinned since we are going through difficulties. But throughout Scripture, we read of brave men and women of God who suffered horribly all because they served God well. (Think about Jeremiah, Job, and Paul.)
Trent went on to say that he felt that the Lord wanted him to focus on lifting the spirits of the men and women who would attend. Trent invited Levi Lusko, Tasha Layton, and Carey Nieuwhof to speak. They all did a great job. Levi reminded us that burnout is for real, and he shared about his own encounter with burnout. He also shared the story of when his 5-year-old daughter died due to asthma complications. It was a powerful message. He went on to talk about death and how his father, who passed away within the last year, did not do well in dying. He fought death tenaciously before giving in to cancer. Levi said he too will not die well but will fight it. He said there is only one who died well, and that was Jesus, and He will help us. Man, that was a good word!
If you are battling the blues today, if you are discouraged or even depressed, I want to point you to Psalm 42. The psalmist addresses discouragement in two very similar texts. Compare our focal verse for today with what the psalmist wrote in verse 11 of the same Psalm:
"Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God."
I love it when God repeats Himself. He does so for emphasis. If you and I miss it the first time, He gives us another chance to get the message! And what a great message He gives to all who are battling discouragement: Trust God, praise God, for He is our help. Will you do that now? Put your hope and confidence in Jesus, trust Him, and go ahead and praise Him for the victory that is coming.
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