All of us suffer from different things in our lives, some deal with depression, I’ve never had a real problem with long term depression, mine is usually short times, but I can usually set my mind on other things and pick myself up.

But others can have long term depression that takes everything out of them. One thing my wife and I both have learned is, depression can be dealt with and overcome. But you must be willing to get to the root source that is causing it and deal with it.

Others have other areas that hinder them,  anger,  a bad attitude, I met a couple of those people this week. If your going to work with the public, its not a real good idea to be angry and  have an attitude!

Whatever your struggling with, you have to get to the root of its cause, which is    NOT AN EASY TASK!!

This past week I heard a sermon by Ravi Zaccarias and it was as though the Lord had him preaching directly to me through the radio. Ever have those times?

For years I have told myself that I struggled with peace in my heart, and I would pray for peace, read books on peace,  preach on peace,  but I continued to struggle for years.

Ravi said something that caught my attention, he asked some questions, do you worry about losing your salvation?  I answered no, because Gods Word assures us that once we’re saved, there is no losing your salvation.

Are you anxious about the future?  Again I’m not, I know down in my heart that God has a purpose and a plan for everything that happens and I can rest in that fact.

But then he asked, do you quit things or move to another job or to another state easily?  Do you change careers or to another church?

Well I couldn’t answer no to that, because he just described me.

He said a man can be at peace with the Lord but be prone to discouragement, and if you don’t recognize it early in your life, you may be a person who will drift through life going from one experience looking for another experience to satisfy your soul.

And thats when it hit me.   I’ve been at peace with the Lord, my wife, my kids but I am a person who gets discouraged very easily.

Over the past 35 years I’ve had 3 different careers, I’ve changed jobs more than some kids have had their diapers changed, I’ve moved over 34 times!!!!!!

Why did it take 51 years before I realized that I struggled with discouragement? And now since the Lord opened my eyes,  how do I fix it?

A discouraged person needs affirmation that he’s doing a good job, that he’s liked or loved, I’ve never taken criticism very well, the hair on my back goes up.

I worked for a banker when I was a pre-teen mowing their lawn, one day his wife wanted me to trim their gigantic hedge that was 3 feet taller than me and surrounded their home. I didn’t have a clue of what to do,, I was only 12. And I told her that I couldn’t do it.

She looked at me and I have never forgotten her words,  your worthless and will never amount to anything, go home and don’t come back.

Those words have haunted me my whole life,  its things like that,  that have an impact on our lives,  parents can do great harm by the unkind words they say to their children.

I don’t know if what she said had an impact on why I get discouraged or not, perhaps it did.

But the truth is, I can’t fix my discouragement,   just like a person who is dealing with depression, anger, hatred, a bad attitude or whatever your struggling with, you got to get to the root of whats causing it and then let Jesus fix it.

All I can do is recognize whats causing it and then ask the Lord to help me overcome my discouragement and give me victory.

I’ve had some good jobs, I’ve been blessed with good churches, but I would get so discouraged that I would quit and move.

I wish I would have recognized my struggle years ago, I know that I’ve hurt people in my churches that cared for us because we left.

I didn’t know what my problem was,  even this week I struggled with it, I was in Kentucky (a state that I love) and I wanted to quit and come home, and I had to fight through it.

But the Lord is so good, he knew how I was fighting it, and he graciously gave me a reprieve and I came home Thursday night, without quitting!

But this week I know I’ll battle it, but with Gods help and with the power of the Holy Spirit I believe this week might be better, and each week will get easier to fight discouragement and in the Lords time, he will give me victory over it.

Anything in our lives that we fight against isn’t an over night success in winning, it takes time, prayer, and a right attitude that says I will not quit until the Lord gives me victory over my struggle.

I would like to start a church perhaps in this area, but until I get victory I’ll have to wait until the lord says go ahead.

The Bible says for us to trust in the Lord with all your heart, its through this trust in him that we’ll gain victory.

Do you trust him?  What are you struggling with?  Can you recognize whats causing it?  Can you allow the Lord to help you get victory over it?

It will take time, but it will be worth the fight.