Discouragement

Discouragement is a powerful emotion. If we are not careful, it can creep into every area of our minds and souls until nothing in life feels satisfying.

"Discouragement is like a cold - easy to catch, but much harder to get rid of."

A personal goal that I am currently working on is to try be thankful every day, and to bear in mind that I probably have it better than 99 percent of the people in this world. But of course that is not always easy! My hope is that this post will "encourage" - see what I did there? Eh? Eh? ;) I couldn't resist - even one person who reads it to try to remove discouragement from their hearts as well.

1 Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up.

The following is a little story I heard on a Christian radio broadcast today. Later on when I came home, I looked it up online so I got it straight. This story illustrates a wise tidbit about discouragement.

--- Once upon a time it was announced that the devil was going out of business and would sell all his equipment and tools of the trade to whomever was willing to pay the price.

On the day of the big sale, all the devil's tools were attractively displayed. There was Envy, Jealousy, Hatred, Malice, Deceit, Sensuality, Pride, Idolatry, and other implements of evil on display. Each of the tools was marked with its own price tag.

Over in the corner by itself was a harmless-looking, wedge-shaped tool very much worn down, but still it bore a higher price than any of the others. Someone asked the devil what it was, and he answered, "That is Discouragement."  The next question came quickly: "And why is it priced so high even though it is plain to see that it is more worn than these others?"

"Because," replied the devil, "it is more useful to me than all the others. I can pry open and get into a man's heart with discouragement when I cannot get near him with any other tool. Once I get inside, I can use him in whatever way suits me best. It is worn well because I use it on everybody I can, and few people even know it belongs to me."

This tool was priced so high that no one could buy it, and to this day it has never been sold. It still belongs to the devil, and he still uses it on mankind. ---

-Author Unknown

Don't let the devil discourage you.

To view the related pastoral reading in its entirety, click here.