How To Fight Discouragement with Rick Warren

now if you take out your message notes we're continuing in our series on how God turns setbacks into comebacks you probably agree that it's always easier to start something than it is to finish it right it's easier to get in to something than it is to get out it's easier to fill your schedule than it is to fulfil your schedule it's easier to get into debt than it is to get out of debt it's easy to make a commitment it's harder to keep a commitment and yet life is really like a marathon because as time goes on people start thinning out you know at the start of a race it's always very very crowded but as the race progresses you have fewer and fewer people and there are wider spaces between the runners and the reason why is because in the race of life we have setbacks and that's why we're doing this whole series life is not easy my goal during this series as your pastor who loves you is to help you finish well and it's why I'm teaching this series on how God turns setbacks into comebacks that's it's part of the character building process where God wants to make you like Jesus that he doesn't make life easy he lets you experience the things that happen in a broken world now because we all have setbacks one of the great enemies of your spiritual maturity is actually discouragement discouragement is deadly it can get you off track when you have a setback and you get discouraged you can get set on the Shelf discouragement is common we all get discouraged it's powerful it is universal it involves everybody and it is recurring it doesn't just happen one at one time in your life some of you came to worship today feeling discouraged about something that's been happening in your life well today we're gonna look at a story that illustrates both the causes and the cures for discouragement and it teaches us what to do when you feel like giving so if you've been discouraged you picked a good week to come to church now the story we're gonna look at is found in the book of Nehemiah chapter 4 by the way if you're in leadership in your business or in government or in any kind of industry of any type or a social area or if you're in management you really need to study this book Nehemiah it's a book about leadership and about management by the way Pastor Tom holiday has a great book on written about the book of Nehemiah I do - but - only in Spanish and I wrote a book on leadership it's only available Spanish Tom's is actually available in English so I would highly recommend you pick up his book unless you speak Spanish now the story of Nehemiah is the story of rebuilding the city wall around Jerusalem now the background is after spending 70 years in captivity in Babylon that was during the days of Daniel the Jews the entire nation of Jews had been taken captive and moved over to to Babylon were allowed to return to that capital city seventy years later to Jerusalem and when they got back it was a mess it was in ruins but what was needed before they could rebuild the city was they needed to rebuild the wall around the city for protection cuz the wall had been torn down and then once they were protected by the wall they could build everything else now the Bible tells us that everybody worked very hard at the start and they quickly rebuilt the wall to half its original height once all the people got back home but the initial enthusiasm wore off and they got discouraged and they got discouraged because of for very common causes of discouragement and I think as we go through this passage today you're gonna see yourself in some or maybe all four of these causes of discouragement so let's pick up the story of Nehemiah in chapter four and Nehemiah is narrating story let's read it here Nehemiah four starting with verse six down to verse twelve Nehemiah says so we rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem until it had reached half its original fight because the people worked at it with all their heart but then and here's where it turns then the other tribes in our area heard about our progress and how Jerusalem the walls were being repaired and how all the gaps were being closed and they became very angry and they all plotted together to attack Jerusalem and to create some confusion to stop the progress so we prayed to God for protection and we posted 24-hour guards but about that same time the people of Jerusalem began to complain and here's what they said they said we're tired and we're worn out and we can't keep up this pace besides that there's so much rubble and trash to be removed we now realize that we can't finish this wall meanwhile our enemies are threatening to kill us in order to stop this work then those of us who lived closest to our enemies that's the Jews had come back but lived outside of the walls of Jerusalem those who live close to the enemies kept reporting over and over and over ten times that our enemies kept saying it doesn't matter where you go we will attack you now we're going to look at four common causes of discouragement out of this passage and I want you to see what happened what happens first when it typically sets in when does discouragement sets in well verse six says they worked hard on the wall rebuilding it until it reached half its original height you might underline that half its original height now this is typical because discouragement sets in at the halfway point not at the beginning not at the end but when you get discouraged is right in the middle for instance let's say you're on one Island and Hawaii let's say you're on Oahu and you're gonna row a boat over to Maui well where are you gonna get the most discouraged well you're not gonna get discouraged at the beginning you're not gonna discourage when you can see Maui you're gonna get discouraged when you can't see either Shore that's right in the middle you can't see where you came from you can't see where you're going typically discouragement strikes at the midpoint of a project for instance if you're climbing up a mountain halfway up the mountain you go I still got to get to the top and then I got to get all the way back have you ever been in a painting project like painting a room or painting your houses halfway through the painting yo oh man we still got have to go and then we got to clean up halfway through writing a book you get discouraged halfway through college you know maybe I wasn't fit for college halfway you know through the year you go this year's not over the dog days of summer halfway through your career halfway through your marriage halfway through your life that's called a mid life crisis that's when discouraged but often sets then sometimes you have it in little areas but sometimes you have it in big areas now in this story we have a very clear example of the four kinds of set bats that cause discouragement so I want you to write these down here here's what they are number one we get discouraged when something takes longer than I expected when something takes longer than expected and that causes fatigue now in this story the builders would work very very hard and there's a lot of physical work they're physically exhausted they're weary they're worn out and in Nehemiah 4 verse 10 the first part of the verse that says this they said we're tired and we'll worn-out and we can't keep up this pace some of you have been saying that this week I'm tired I'm worn out I can't keep this pace we've simply run out of energy now I know this I was talking to the guys who are taping this right now the first part of this week was very rough for me because of some issues in my health and then a couple of crises that I had to deal with his pastor the first 80 hours of this week I only got six hours of sleep that's not a good thing and you know what I was worthless and I was ineffective because I couldn't really get anything done when you're tired when you're worn out you can't even think straight you know studies show that most Americans are sleep deprived and the number one cause of discouragement is physical and emotional exhaustion last week in that message on Elijah I quoted Vince Lombardi the great football coach you said fatigue makes cowards of all of us and how amazing it is that things look better after just a good night's sleep now this principle is is true when things take longer than you think do you start getting tired you start getting weary you start getting exhausted if you don't get your rest you're gonna get discouraged that's why God created the Sabbath every six days you take a day off you know in agriculture farmers rotate their crops because they know that a field that's rested it hasn't had of that year hasn't had a crop on that a feel distressed it produces a greater harvest some of you don't know who Frederick Taylor is but you ought to thank him he say why well in in 1893 this guy named Frederick Taylor did the first scientific study of work habits and he did it in a steel mill and mr. Taylor proved that people accomplish more if they take regular rest breaks so you need to thank Frederick Taylor for all your coffee breaks he's the guy who thought that up our best acquires rest you know the other day I learned that the reason that bats can live 20 years which is a long time for small animals small animals don't live a long time bats can live 20 years because they have the ability to do deep relaxation a bat can lower its pulse from a hundred and eighty beats a minute to just three beats a minute and that extends their life when you're tired you're much more vulnerable to all kinds of things including attacks from other people and criticism it tends to affect you more when people saying things about you and you're full of energy and vitality and vigor doesn't bother you but when people say things about you and you're tired it gets to you Deuteronomy 25 verse 18 look at this verse it says never forget how the Amalekites attacked you when you were exhausted and weary and they struck you down those who began to lag behind when you're weary when you're exhausted you start to lag behind that's when Satan is going to attack you here's the point that when you're tired you're being set up for an attack and it may be an attack of discouragement maybe attack of temptation and maybe attack of self-pity and if you're tired right now guess what you're probably gonna be facing some attacks how are you being attacked right now fatigue makes you vulnerable so the first cause of discouragement is if you just get tired you're gonna be more susceptible to discouragement when things take longer than expected now here's a second kind of setback that causes discouragement and we see that in the in the next part of this verse and it's when something is more complicated than its then you expect it than I expected in other words you start out on a project and discovery it's not only taken longer it's just a whole lot harder than I thought it would be and how long a project takes can cause fatigue but how complicated a project is can cause frustration and both fatigue and frustration can cause discouragement have you ever tried to clean out a closet or or your files and and what you do is you sit down and you you dump all your files out on the floor in your office and you start trying to decide what to do with all you've got and and and you know working on it for a few hours and you know this is crazy and then you just dump them all back in into into the vials and throw back you know in the way that were you got discouraged it just was more complicated you were having to make Killiney decision I remember a couple years ago we remodeled our house and I was amazed at how much trash and junk they had to carry off you know just in remodeling broken bricks and dirt and dried mortar and rocks and that permanent port-a-potty and that wonderful smell that it had all the stuff that had to be carried off just when we were trying to build something you know here's the point any time you tried to build anything a career a plan a project the life a hobby a family a marriage ain't right and you try to build anything you're gonna have some debris and that is frustrating cuz things take longer than you expect and things are more complicated than you expect and that causes discouragement and that's the second back setback that the people faced in Jerusalem it was not only taken too long building this wall was too complicated and it was too much junk and and trash laying around the second part of Nehemiah 4 verse 10 says this second complaint said we're tired but secondly said there's so much rubble and trash to be removed so much rubble and trash to be removed now follow me on this they get discouraged because there's junk the walls have been torn down and there's piles of garbage rubble plastered junk trash rocks lay it all around and they can't even move there's so much rubble in their lives you may not realize it but you got rubble in your life it could be emotional rubble it could be relational rubble too many relationships it could be you know material rubble you've got too many things in your life you need to simplify so let me on this day give you Ric's rules of rubble this is in your notes but I'm gonna give it to you anyway Ric's rules of rubble all right here they are number one rubble is a part of life in other words you can't avoid it you're gonna have piles of trash in your life you're gonna have stuff piles up in your life that you haven't dealt with and the bigger the pile gets the more frustrated you get by it you're fatigued by the work but you're frustrated by the complexity of all you've got to do so rubble piles up Rick's rule number two you have to clean it out of your life periodically you have to take out the trash emotionally you take out the trash by confession to God number three if you don't deal with it it'll eventually take over let me let you in on a little secret you've probably already figured this out trash multiplies when you aren't watching it just kind of always you're where'd all that come from how do the dishes pile up so quickly in the kitchen how to clothes pile up so quickly in the bedroom and so many it multiplies while you're not watching let me give you a fourth rule the rubble you don't always recognize what's rubble in your life but other people do other people can see stuff in your life that you've allowed to stay there that's really holding you back that's hindering you and maybe you don't even see it because you're so used to living with it that you don't even realize it's rubble there's some stuff you need to clean out and clear out in your life some activities some relationships some things some events some bad attitudes some wrong thoughts some misconceptions mental physical emotional spiritual rubble in your life that you need to clear out you know and a lot of people don't see it we don't see it in our lives but other people see it in fact sometimes it takes an expert to point it out by the way that's why all those clean-out shows on TV are so popular where somebody comes in and helps them organize that menu got trash all over here let's get let's get your house cleaned out and cleaned up the question what's the rubble in your life this was the second cause of discouragement in the in the in the Jews of Jerusalem what's the rubble right it's the stuff that keeps tripping you up you might write that down the rubble is the stuff that keeps tripping me up in life it may be a misconception and attitude it may be a habit it's the stuff that keeps tripping you up rubble can be the trivia that wastes your time that waste your energy that keeps you from accomplishing what's most important they had a job to finish finish the wall I said we can't do it there's so much trash laying around we can't even get to rebuild the wall what do you need to do you need to just tell God about the rubble in your life and ask for help some 2518 says come Lord and show me mercy for I feel helpless and overwhelmed and in deep distress if you're feeling helpless and overwhelmed and in deep distress in your life right now because of something that's holding you back that's rubble and you need to deal with it we're gonna look at the cause a cure in just a second but here's another setback Italy here's the third setback that will cause you to be discouraged and it happened in Nehemiah today and it's gonna happen to you it's when I start to doubt my own ability when I start to doubt my own ability then this causes a sense of failure now when you add that to fatigue you got fatigue and you got frustration fatigue it's taken too long frustration it's too complicated and then you start having a sense of failure well now it's getting serious I'm gonna get discouraged that's the third part of Nehemiah 4 verse 10 the people said look at this the people said we now realize that we cannot not will not we cannot finish this wall whoa what just happened new American Bible says we will never be able to finish this wall what happened they've already built half of it why all of a sudden they've decided that they can't finish it I mean that like I said they've already built half of it but now they've lost a confidence you know now they they felt they're filled with self-doubt now they're questioning why they even started now they say well you know well you know I was foolish to even think about doing this you ever felt that way why did I take this job why did I get married why did I make this move you start second-guessing yourself you start doubting yourself you start filling yourself with feelings of failure and like I can't do this you lose your confidence you start feeling out like like you're failure because of the frustration of fatigue and they they feel the failure they are unable to finish the task as quickly as they originally planned and the result is their confidence goes in the toilet it goes down the drain they lose their heart they lose their enthusiasm now let me ask is a pastor who loves you a real important question how do you handle failure how do you react when your plans collapse how do you react when it's taken longer than you thought it's more complicated you thought and you start doubting do I even have the ability to do this what do you do you give into self-pity and you have a pity party poor me everybody hates me nobody loves me I'm gonna go eat worms you have a pity party and you invite you me myself and I or you start complaining and start saying it's impossible you know you start having the feeling you know about the time I I make ends meet somebody moves the ends already start blaming other people and say well they let me down or they didn't tell me how hard it was gonna be and listen if at first you don't succeed you're normal you're normal nobody succeeds at first successful people simply see failure as a temporary setback this whole series is on learning the spiritual quality of resilience of trusting God for a comeback there is no comeback without first a setback and that setback may be this third one will you just start doubting your own ability go I don't think I'm even up for the task I don't think I can do this I don't think I can finish what I've started now finally there's a fourth setback and and we see this in this next verse and it is this you start to give up you feel like giving up when the opposition grows stronger now when you start a progress project probably nobody even cares they don't even notice and and so you don't have any opposition usually at the start but as you start growing you start being effective the opposition people aren't gonna like the changes you make in you the changes you make in your marriage and your family and your job the things you're trying to do for the Lord and the opposition starts coming against you the more visible you become and guess what the moment you put your shingle out and say well I'm open for business somebody's gonna start throwing rocks at it and that causes fear so now we've got a combination of fatigue frustration failure and fear that's enough to discourage anybody now let me give you the background of this there were enemies in and around Jerusalem who had moved in when the Jews had been taken captive and moved to Babylon for 70 years and when the Jews were allowed to come back to their homeland they did not want the Jews moving back and - they did not want the wall rebuilt around the city because it couldn't be attacked it couldn't be taken advantage of they they couldn't victimize the people and so the enemy tribes around Jerusalem had a number of tactics they used and if you don't read the book at U of Nehemiah here's what did it first they just criticized the builders and they said what are you guys doing you can't do this do you like to be criticized no nobody does so they they criticized the builders and then the second thing they did and in the book of Nehemiah is they ridicule them they actually made fun of them do you like being ridiculed no you do not nobody likes to be the brunt of somebody else's sarcasm or the joke of the butt of a joke so they criticize their ridicule the third thing the enemy tribes did is is they threatened them and they actually said we're gonna kill you they threatened them with their lives in verse 11 Nehemiah chapter 4 it says this meanwhile in spite of all these other three facts it's taken too long it's too too too complicated and we don't know what we're doing and we don't doubt it we doubt our abilities just meanwhile our enemies are threatening to kill us in order to stop this work now this is a legitimate reason to be discouraged we might die if we finish this project now it's not just frustration and fear and fatigue maleeh the legitimate reason that we might die but I want you to notice in this next verse verse 12 who got discouraged first it was those who were listening to the enemy those who were listening to the wrong people they weren't listening to God they were listening to the non-believers they were listening to the world not to the word Nehemiah 4 verse 12 tells us why that it got discouraged then those of us who lived closest to our enemies underline that those of us who lived closest to our enemies kept reporting over and over 10 times this is the power of repetition that our enemies kept saying over and over it doesn't matter where you go we will attack you now I want you to listen very closely if you're discouraged if you keep hanging out with negative people and you keep constantly listening to negative talk radio and watching negative talk news and listening to negative talk chatter on social media guess what it's gonna infect you with fear some of you need to go on a diet of negativity stop filling your mind with negative words from television radio news internet social media so those who live closest to the enemy if you're listening to everything that's bad and all the news today is bad news about our economy about our world about everything about the government everything you're gonna get discouraged and you're gonna become fearful and fear is gonna grow let me ask you personal question what secret fear is causing you to be discouraged fear of criticism you know a fear of embarrassment so you hesitate to take a big step of faith a fear that you're not capable of the task before you a fear that you have to be perfect that you have to be flawless a fear that nobody will love you if they knew the real you a fear that you can't handle the pressure you've got some hidden fears I'm sure of that cuz we all do Thoms as a result of Santa in a broken world now how do you know when it's fear that is discouraging you oh it's real simple you have an intense desire to run to escape let me out of here and then let's just get out of here let's run away from a situation so we've got fear we've got frustration and we've got fatigue and we've got a sense of failure and we've got fear those four things line up to cause discouragement in your life what is God's cure when you feel like giving up when you're at the halfway point in in a project in your life in your ministry and your marriage or whatever what where do you find the strength and the motivation to finish whatever you started or what God has started in you the Bible says being confident of this that he who began a good work in you will bring it to the day of completion in Jesus Christ how do I keep on going when I feel like giving up well I'm glad you're thinking that question because you do the three things that Nehemiah did when he led the people to finish the wall and here are the three things that he did and you need to do these same three things to turn the setbacks from fear for frustration fatigue or failure into a comeback number one first thing Nehemiah did first thing you need to do reorganize whatever is not working maybe something in your life maybe something in your family maybe something in your business your job you may be doing the right thing but in the wrong way a lot of times when we get discouraged with what we're doing we think well I must be doing the wrong thing no you may be doing the right thing you're just doing it in the wrong way and God says I want you to do it differently keep doing what you're doing just do it differently Nehemiah 4:13 says this so I stationed armed guards this is Nehemiah narrating in I stationed armed guards at the most vulnerable places of the wall and I assigned people by families with their swords and Lance's and their bows now let me explain what's going on here Nehemiah says okay guys we got enemies who want to attack us so here's what we're gonna do half of you're gonna do the work working on the wall and the other half are you gonna stand guard and then we're gonna switch and the other half will do work on the wall and the other half will guard what's you he's just coming up with a new plan they did not give up on the goal they just devised a new strategy here's the point whatever you're discouraged at right now doesn't necessarily mean you need to stop doing it doesn't mean you're doing the wrong thing it may be mean you're doing it in the wrong way Nehemiah said we got to change the way we're doing this and maybe you need to change the way you're doing your schedule change the way you're doing your diet change the way you're doing the way you're relating to people see the natural temptation is to give up on the dream no no no no no so let's just get personal you got a problem right now well don't give up just change the way to you deeply in debt well then you're gonna need to reorganize your budget are you out of shape you're gonna need to reorganize your lifestyle your eating patterns are you over committed in your schedule you're gonna need to reorganize your times where do you need to do what Nehemiah did reorganize whatever's not working you may have a homework project this week now that may mean that you need to eliminate some things out of your schedule or out of your life where you clean out the rubble that's the clutter that's the time wasters that's the trivial things you know it's foolish to start a business with without a business plan nobody in their right mind would ever do that start a business without a business plan but most Americans plan everything except their lives do you have a life plan I want you to notice in that this plan that Nehemiah comes about he says he posted them by families what does that mean he made sure that they had support what's your support group one of the reasons you may be discouraged because you're trying to handle everything by yourself you need a support group you need to be in a small group you need that start a small group Hebrews four twenty five the bus says that some people have got out of the habit of meeting with other believers but we must not do that instead we should keep on encouraging each other who's encouraging you who are you encouraging you need to be a small group maybe your action step this week to say oh you know the reason I'm discourages I'm not in a small group I don't have a support group he posted them by groups by families you need a spiritual family if you don't have a spiritually you need to join Saddleback Church take class 101 or joining the family discovering the benefits of being a part of a spiritual family we teach that class every month at every campus so that's what you need to reorganize whatever is not working and your life don't give up on the dream just look at it from a different direction you can get some help on that we can help you on that you can get some counsel you need to get some support second thing Nehemiah did reorganize whatever's not working number two refocus on God that's the next verse in Nehemiah 4:14 it says this then Nehemiah says I looked over the situation and I called together all the leaders and the people and I said to them don't be afraid of the enemy remember the Lord underlined that remember the Lord who is great and glorious he says you know what you've been so busy working for God you've forgotten God does that happen in your life have you forgotten the Lord that you're working for you're trying to serve you must be so busy doing the work for the Lord you forget God's work in you what you need to do is you need to refocus on God you need to recommit yourself to Christ you need to draw on spiritual resources the Bible says when David got discouraged it says quote he encouraged himself in the Lord it doesn't say encouraged himself by watching TV or he encouraged himself by playing golf it says he encouraged himself in the Lord he says remember the Lord's underline that what do I remember when I'm discouraged I remember three things God's goodness to me in the past God's closed this to me in the present and God's power from me in the future I get my mind off the discouraging circumstances and I remember God's goodness and God's close to sand God's power and remember that you're taught thoughts determine your feelings discouragement is a feeling if you want to change your feelings you change what you think about one of my favorite verses is in Jonah 2:7 Jonah swallowed up by the great fish and in the bottom of the ocean he says this when I'd lost all hope I once again turned my thoughts to the Lord that's what you need to do if you've lost all hope today you you need to turn your thoughts to the Lord David's antidote was the same thing psalm 119 125 when he said I'm completely discouraged so revived me by your word you need to get in the Word of God you need to be having a quiet time if you're discouraged today it means this you're not spending enough time in the Word of God is we spending more time on social media than you are listening to God that's this clear sign you're not spending enough time in the words because the word revives refreshes restores rebuilds so I reorganize what needs to be changed keep doing what you're doing but do it in a new way and then I remember and I refocused on the Lord and then the third thing that Nehemiah does is he tells them to do this and you need to do it to resist resist the discouragement this is your choice you're gonna have to fight it resist the discouragement you don't give in to it Nehemiah 4:14 the second part says this Nehemiah says then I told them fight fight for your brothers these are people who wanted to give up fight for your brothers fight for your sons fight for your daughters fight for your wife fight for your home's don't you dare give in without a fight friends we're in a spiritual battle we're in a warfare every day of your life we're not in a playground we're in a battle Brown and as believers we are called to engage in a spiritual battle every day of our life ultimately it's already been won but there are battles going on every day and we are in a supernatural strap struggle and Mortal Kombat and Satan is called the accuser of the believers and he's accusing you every day and he would love to neutralize your effectiveness by discouraging you his favorite weapons Satan's two favorite weapons I've been a pastor for 40 years I've been walking with the Lord for about 55 years and I know that the two favored discouragement tools are favorite weapons of Satan are distraction and discouragement distraction to get you off your focus and discouragement James 4:7 says this resist the devil resist the devil and he will flee from you we are at war with negative thoughts negative forces negative origins that want to keep us from developing our potential from God's front for God's so make this and let me just be as clear as I can possibly say this if you're discouraged right now you need to hear this discouragement is a choice it's a choice you don't have to be discouraged nobody's holding a gun to your head right now the reason you're discouraged as you are choosing to listen to discouraging thoughts and that's your choice you don't have to listen to those discouraging choice those thoughts it's your choice you know the difference between great people and ordinary people great people simply refused to be discouraged great people are just ordinary people with an extraordinary amount of determination you know I'm not that smart I'm not that talented but there is one thing I've learned I don't know how to quit and I never never never never give up even when things are go wrong and if God wants to use you the way he wants to use you and you're gonna be used the way he wants to use you then you cannot give up even when you're fatigued even when you're frustrated even when you're fearful even when you feel like you're failing you just choose to keep going when you're going through hell you keep going and maybe what God wants to say to you is this keep going reorganize what's not working refocus on God and resist the discouragement it's your choice you're discouraged because you're choosing to think discouraging thoughts you don't have to think those thoughts let me ask you a very personal question what's unfinished in your life is their relationship you need to reconcile or is there is a relationship that somebody who's dead or something that you need to do closure on some of you have unfinished business with God and yet yeah the walls have finished the the projects have done what have you known that God wants you to do but you just keep putting it off maybe you've been checking checking out Jesus Christ maybe considering giving your life 10 but you've never stepped across the line this weekend we move into September it makes me think of that verse and Jeremiah 820 that says the summer is over and we are not saved maybe that represents you you have not been saved and the summer is over maybe need to be baptized maybe you need to finish Saddleback's a series of life development classes you know understanding your your Saddleback family 101 201 301 401 maybe you got stuck at first base you need to take your next step maybe you need to join a small group you need that support you're out there trying to build the wall on your own it's not going to work you can't finish your life for your project by yourself what has caused you to be discouraged today if it's fatigue you need to get some rest if it's frustration you need to reorganize what you're doing maybe you keep doing what you're doing but you do it in a new way and you need to get the rubble cleaned out and you need to maybe change some relationships or change your schedule to change your eating plan or whatever needs to be cleaned out and and and and simplified in your life get your goals back and focus if you've been feeling like a failure remember that God loves you unconditionally that he forgives you even if you've made mistakes and blown it you've sinned there's no condemnation for those are in Christ God loves to give second chances and Saddleback is the Church of second chances the S stands for second chance place of grace and if you've been discouraged because of worry or anxiety or fear you need to resist you need to resist the discouragement you need to resist the devil you need to fight for your future fight for your family fight for your goals fight for your dream don't give up discouragement is a choice you don't have to live in discouragement you don't have to listen to those negative thoughts I know as your pastor some of you are just barely holding on and you may be thinking Rick it just isn't worth that friend look up don't give up look up the answer may just be right around the corner hold on you know 1981 I went through an entire year of depression and my emotions and my health were broken and every Saturday as I would prepare for Sunday I would drive down to Laguna Beach and sit and watch the tide go out and watch it come in and when the tide goes out the the beach is pretty ugly it reveals a lot of you know junk and driftwood and stuff on the beach but I've learned that when the tide goes out it always comes back in the tide may be out in your life right now but it always comes back in in my office there's a plaque hanging on the wall in Hebrew and it says this this too shall pass I don't know what's going on in your life right now but I will tell you that problem that you're in right now it didn't come stay it it came to past and tough times never last but tough people do so where do you get the the power to keep going when you feel like giving up particularly when you're in to halfway point Jesus Christ can give you that inner strength I want to pray for you right now let's bow our heads father I know that there are a lot of people are discouraged here today because of fear or frustration or fatigue or since failure some are tired and worn out and some are feeling like it's taken longer than I thought it would take and some are thinking it's more complicated than I thought be and some of them but people are attacking me and I'm under it I'm being criticized for what I'm trying to do and and some are scared and think I might lose my job and I'm I might even lose my life and there's all kinds of fears that come in their lives help us to do what Nehemiah did now you pray and you pray these three steps say Lord today III want to I want to refocus on you I want to refocus on you I want to remember the Lord your goodness to me in the past I want to remember that you're with me right now I want to remember remember that you're you're gonna give me the power in the future and Lord I need the strength to reorganize and and not give up on what I'm doing but do it in a new way so I'm not so frustrated and I'm not so fatigued that I'm I don't feel like a failure that I I'm not afraid it help me to clean out the rubble in my life and help me to see what that is maybe there's a relationship that's holding me back or I got too many things I'm doing that need to simplify my life and simplify by my budget and simplify my lifestyle and so many other things help me to remember the Lord and reorganize my life and Lord I've asked you to give me the power to resist the discouragement and to fight for my future and to fight for my family and to fight for my career and fight for my dreams and they're not just given help me to remember that when I'm discouraged that's a choice that I don't have to remember those thoughts but I can trust in you you've never opened your life to Christ say Jesus Christ please come into my life right now I can't do this on my own I need a Savior I need you to be the manager of my life from this day forward I want to follow you from this day on I want to do whatever you tell me to do and trust you I want to learn to love you and I want to commit and surrender myself to you as best I know how my way has not worked I want to go your purpose for my life and I humbly ask you to accept me in your family in Jesus name Amen thanks for checking out this message on YouTube my name is Jade i'm Saddleback's online pastor i want to invite you to take your next step by checking out our online community or help get you connected to a local Saddleback campus three things we have to offer you right now first learn more about belonging to our church family by taking class 101 second don't live life alone and get into community with others by joining an online small group or a local home group in your area third join our Facebook group to be more engaged with our online communities throughout the week take your next step and learn where a local campus is near you by visiting Saddleback comm watch online or email online at Saddleback comm hope to hear from you soon

Channel: Saddleback Church

Views: 245,960

Rating: 4.8129954 out of 5

Keywords: saddleback church

Id: 28VkMJwqQjE

Length: 48min 13sec (2893 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 05 2018