Fending Off Arrows of Discouragement

“We and the world, my children, will always be at war.
     Retreat is impossible.
     Arm yourselves.”           ?Leif Enger, Peace like a River 
 
Man, it’s tough to fight off discouragement, isn’t it? We pray, we work hard, we love people, we serve others, and yet sometimes it seems like we just hit setbacks at every turn.
 
When I face discouragement, I have to remind myself that WE ARE AT WAR. I like to think of this world as a happy and friendly place, that if I love God and people and invest in them, that the positive fruit of that will return to me.
 
But sometimes it doesn’t. And it’s then that I have to remind myself that Satan is my enemy and that this world is not my real home. The root of the words “courage,” “encourage” and “discourage” is the same: COR, meaning “HEART.” Don’t let Satan steal your heart!
We tend to think that no one wants more good things for us than we do, but our heavenly Father is able to provide for us better than we ever could. He has greater plans in store for you and me than we could ever dream of. He has given us exquisite gifts. Through prayer, our heavenly Father intends to do a work in our lives that is “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).
We read in the book of Proverbs, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (4:23). As Christians, we’re passionate about guiding others and guarding their hearts (as well as our own) as we watch them grow. I want to provide the best for my husband and loved ones, knowing Jesus came so that we “may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
Unfortunately, we face fierce opposition in our quest to obtain abundant life. We have an enemy called Satan, whom Jesus describes as “the thief who comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). Satan is the deceiver, our adversary, who seeks to oppose and destroy God’s people. He wants to keep us and our loved ones from receiving God’s best for us.
Satan’s sneakiest ploys are twofold. He wants:
1) to convince us that he doesn’t exist; and
2) to convince us that we are not at war.
In his book Waking the Dead, John Eldredge writes, “By all means, God intends life for you. But right now that life is opposed. It doesn’t just roll in on a tray. There is a thief. He comes to steal and kill and destroy. In other words, yes, the offer is life, but you’re going to have to fight for it because there’s an enemy in your life with a different agenda. There is something set against us. We are at war.”
Yes, engaging in spiritual warfare against Satan, the enemy of our souls, can be scary. But we have this confidence: through Christ’s finished work on the cross, we have already won the victory. God’s power always has been and always will be greater than Satan’s.
The devil knows that his time on earth is limited; the game is up. Eventually, he will be cast into the lake of fire for eternity (Rev. 20:10). So when we bring our praises as well as our needs before the Father in prayer, we know that we have “checkmated” Satan. We can have supreme confidence in the Lord, knowing that we’re on the winning side of the battle.
Take heart, my friend.