We acknowledge God’s blessings in our own life as well as those around us. Of course, we have our share of problems and struggles, but for the most part, the Lord has provided for our basic needs. And to be honest, he has also given us a lot of luxuries. Our seasons of difficulty might be with a relationship, financial hardships, issues with our health, the loss of a loved one or the occasional internal suffering associated with rejection, but God promises that he is with us in whatever we are going through.
In the hard times, we are tempted to deny the situation or hide from the agony, which we all know is like putting a Band-Aid on a broken arm. Discouragement is real and, unfortunately, a lot of people live with a smile on the outside but are crying on the inside.
There are several keys that can help us overcome discouragement. One of them is instead of asking God to change everyone’s view of us, let us pray that we might see ourselves the way he sees us. Examining our conscience involves analyzing what we believe and why. This will allow us to find the real cause of our disappointments and help us discover a deeper understanding of why we feel the way we do. When we comprehend how our personal trigger mechanisms and response buttons operate, this is a huge step toward knowing that the way we think controls our emotions.
Sometimes our rejection is associated with our gifts and talents and how we believe that no one cares about what we enjoy. When it comes to our spiritual well-being, an important key to consider is that whatever we do for God, it’s wise to be sure that God told us to do it. It’s much better to listen and follow God’s directions than to do something on our own and then ask him to bless it. The idea of patience is to prevent putting the cart before the horse.
It’s easy to forget that obedience is up to us, but the results of our labors are up to him and are solely based on his intentions. If we really believe this, we would never be upset because we would know that everything is being accomplished according to his will. If we are dissatisfied with the results, then we are probably focusing on our own projections and expectations instead of trusting that God is guiding our life with his divine sovereignty.