A Shot of Encouragement

          Has life gotten you down?  Do you see more gloomy days, than days full of sunshine?  Is life more of a drag, than a day full of joy and promising opportunities?  Life can get you to the end of your rope.  All you see are the problems and disappointments of life.  It is easy to succumb to feelings of discouragement and despair, as life deals one disappointing blow after another.

            So often, you can lose sight of the good things that your life has in it.  You cannot see the sun, because of all the dark clouds of gloom hiding it from you.  Often times, you cannot see anything positive, because of so many, many negative events in your life.  John R. Stott is a prolific Christian writer.  In fact, he is a deep thinker and many would call him a theologian.  In discussing this issue, he says this: “The Christian’s chief occupational hazards are depression and discouragement.”  Wow!  Does that forever hit home!  You may be in that state of mind now, and if not, just know that attitude can be right around the corner.  The fact is that gloom if not being experienced by you right now, will be a part of your life sometime in the future.

            Christ experienced criticism about His ministry almost every day of His life for His whole three years of ministry.  To make matters worse, those discouraging words came from the religious leaders of His day.  “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls” (Hebrews 12:3; NKJV).  When dark clouds occur in your life, just remember that those days happened in Christ’s life, and He was able to overcome them.

            Yes, dark days are inevitable.  Overcome them by finding encouragement with Christ’s power!