Phrases that are tell-tale signs you’re discouraged…

When you’re going through the delays in life, waiting for an answer to prayer GOD says “don’t fear and don’t fret because they prolong the delay.” 

                                        

Then HE says that when you go through the delays in life also don’t faint – don’t get discouraged.  Don’t lose heart.  Don’t give up.  This is the third thing the Israelites did and it kept them out of the Promised Land. 

Numbers 14.2-4 (NIV), “All the Israelites grumbled against Moses... ‘If only we had died in Egypt! ... We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

They gave up on their dream.  They caved in.  They had been in slavery 400 years but now because they are having a little bit of delay they want to go back to Egypt.  “If only” and “go back” are phrases that are tell-tale signs you’re discouraged – that you’re fainting, losing heart. 

“If only” –  means we start to second guess ourselves.  When we get a dream from GOD, make the decision to go for it and if it doesn’t come immediately we start second-guessing ourselves – ‘Maybe I didn’t really hear from GOD.  Maybe I just made this up.  Maybe GOD is not listening and HE doesn’t care. If only I’d done something different.  If only I’d done this or that...”  We second-guess ourselves.

And then we say, “Let’s go back to Egypt.”  When we go through the delay phase of life we tend to idealize the past.  We talk about the good old days – which really weren’t that good.  The only thing good about them is they’re over.  The grass isn’t greener on this or that side of the fence – it’s greener where you water it.  The good old days always look better in hindsight than they really were.  We get into a project, start having a delay, and then want to give up.  The Israelites had been in slavery in Egypt. 

Some people would rather live in slavery than face the fear of freedom.  They are not willing to push through and work on the problem until they get it right.  They want to go back, give up.  They settle for mediocrity in life. 

Don’t settle for less than God’s best for your life.  If that means going through a tunnel of conflict, take the tunnel.  In the middle of the tunnel it’s dark and you want to run back to the light.  But you’ve got to keep going and you’ll come out in the light on the other side.

Just a thought from the front porch…