Audio： Discouragement — K.P. Yohannan

Do you find yourself discouraged with the circumstances of life, and do your situations seem too hard to handle? Next on the road to reality, break free from the discouragement that's weighing you down.

The Reality of Discouragement in the Christian Life

Billy Graham once said, the Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes and say, oh God, forgive me or help me.

Billy is not alone, is he? We all go through pouts of discouragement, even some of the most godly men and women. I think of C .H. Spurgeon, who said he suffered with depression constantly. Today on the road to reality, Brother K .P. Yohannan will help us find answers from the Word.

Not only that, he'll point to a few of the reasons for discouragement.

Hi, this is K .P. Yohannan. Think about it. Discouragement. I think we all face this kind of a normal thing in life, I think. If someone says, oh, I never get discouraged, I never experience that kind of down times, I think they're lying about it.

As a matter of fact, I tell people, you know, one of the battle I have to deal with in the midst of my responsibilities and travels and all this stuff, often I'm hit with discouragement. And by the grace of God, of course, you know, I have learned over the 40 years of my journey in serving my Lord, how to deal with it.

I mean, think of the scripture. Oh, that I had wings of a dove, I will fly away and be at rest. Psalm 55 verse 6. Now, if someone like David and these men who walked with God, like Moses or Elijah and Jonah and Paul and Peter, I mean, if they have to deal with it, please believe me, who are we?

I mean, you and I, we had to deal with it. This is part of the spiritual warfare and life that we live here on earth. So the scripture, the word of God gives us enough information how to deal with it.

Oh, by the way, I do not know if you ever heard this poem by Joseph Bailey. I mean, I heard it quite interesting. Here it is. I am alone, Lord, alone, a thousand miles from home. There's no one here who knows my name except the clerk and he spelled it wrong.

No one to eat dinner with, laugh at my joke, listen to my gripes, be happy with me about the things happened today and say, that's great. No one cares. There is just this lousy bed and slush in street outside between the buildings.

I feel sorry for myself. I have plenty of reason to. Maybe I want to say I'm on the top of it. Praise the Lord. Things are great. But they are not tonight. It is all gray slush. Kind of tell the story of our journey sometime and we don't write maybe poems like that, but basically sometime we feel like that.

Now, when we are discouraged, you agree, we kind of lose our perspective, at least for a time being. Little things becomes mammoth, a little irritation becomes like a pebble in the shoe, motivation drained away and kind of give up hope.

And in extreme situations, you know this, people say, I don't want to live. And that's what happened to Elijah, this great mighty prophet. And Jonah, so discouraged, I don't want to live anymore. And there are many reasons for people getting discouraged.

Discouragement from Feeling Unappreciated

And I can just name a few and hopefully give you some help as to how we can deal with it. One is we feel so unappreciated. You know, the wife cooked the meals and all she can hear often from the husband is, what happened?

There's no salt in it and overcooked or undercooked or, oh, you didn't cook the meal and it's again from the refrigerator and microwaved and, you know, and again, I'm not saying, you know, wife should not cook food or take care of the husband or family, but sometimes the wife feels no matter what she does as a mother and taking her to the home and she's not getting enough appreciation and often she cries alone saying that really nobody cares.

And husband feels the same thing. People at workplace, you know, the only thing they can hear from the boss is, why didn't you do this? Why are you late? What happened to this? You know, there are reasons to say so many good things because people do good things, but often they don't hear it.

And the only thing they remember is the corrections and the rebuke. And we all face that. Christ, you know, in the scripture, he did all things well. But how often people would come and tell him, thank you.

As a matter of fact, you remember 10 lepers? He healed and one came back and Jesus said, well, what happened to the rest of them? No answer. My brothers and sisters, we live in a world where people don't appreciate us so much.

But here you need to know something. These are times when we need to say, Lord, now I understand what you went through partaking in the suffering of Christ. Misunderstanding becomes another reason for discouragement.

Discouragement from Being Misunderstood

You try to explain your world, but nobody seems to understand or they completely misunderstand you. Hannah was broken hearted, crying out for, you know, God to help her. And the preacher, the clergy, the priest look upon her and say, what is wrong with you woman?

You are drunk or something? And then she says, oh my Lord, no, I'm a woman with a broken heart crying out to God. And, you know, especially if you are someone in the work of the Lord, a pastor, a youth pastor or a missionary, you know so much what you do, nobody sees and you feel hurt when people misunderstand you.

Overcoming Introspection by Looking to Christ

And another reason for discouragement is basically some people are so introspective. They keep on looking into their life. I don't pray enough. I don't read enough. I don't work hard enough. I'm not good enough.

I'm not holy enough. All my life is full of failures and people keep on looking into themselves and become so introspective. They feel horrible and discouraged about everything in life. And a friend of mine that I respect so much, George Worwell, one time said, you know, one look at yourself and ten look at Jesus will keep you going on in this journey.

And I ask you, while you look at the negative sides, the failures and the lack of good things or things you don't do, whatever, listen, keep looking at Jesus because Philippians 1, 6 says, you know, the journey you began, the work he began in you and me, he will continue to work with us and in us and changes that we may become more like him.

Romans 8, 29. So don't give up on yourself. Why? Peter made a whole bunch of stupid mistakes. But right there, Jesus says, Peter, you are the rock. And somebody could hear that, that know Peter and say, Jesus, I don't think you understand it.

You're talking about Peter? This guy? You know, every step he make look like this is a failure. We know him better than you know him. The Lord would say, yeah, but I see Peter as he is in the future. And for sure, you know, as time went by, the Peter that denied Christ becomes the leader of the gang, proclaiming the gospel and thousands gave their lives to the living Christ.

And he opened the door of the church, the kingdom for people. You read that book of Acts, you see what happens is that God is never disappointed in you. He never gives up on you. As a matter of fact, think about Judas, you know, one of the disciples of Christ, it says in the scripture, he was a thief from the beginning.

Can you just imagine you work with a bunch of people, and you know, one guy is a creep, he's stealing your money from day one. And he's going to betray you, he's going to ditch you. But you do nothing, just keep going on as though nothing is there.

As a matter of fact, you know, the last supper, all the disciples with Christ, even as Judas was going out to betray the Lord, none of the disciples knew Judas was really the one who was going to betray him.

Jesus never disclosed the story about Judas. And the scripture says, Jesus loved them till the end, including Judas. What that tells me is this, till the last second of your life, God is working with you on your side.

He is changing you, and all you have to do is learn to obey, learn to trust him, and let the Lord continue work with you. Giving up on yourself is never God's plan. So I say to you, introspection, yeah, look at yourself once in a while, but look at the goodness, the mercy of the Lord, because He loves you.

One of the neatest words in the Bible is in John 17, Jesus says, Father, you love him, you love her. By the way, put your name there. And then he says, just the way as much as you love me. Can you imagine, the Lord loves you, the Father loves you, just the same way He loves His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, please, look at your life and see the grace, the mercy of God. And when you get discouraged about stuff in your life, that may be one of those times you should say, this is conviction from the Lord, and repent and change and go on with life.

Go on, live in the past. The present is the most important thing that the Lord has given you.

The Lord wants us pressing onward, looking upward. The way of humanity is just the opposite, though, isn't it? K .P. O 'Hannon will be right back here on the Road to Reality. We're learning how to deal with discouragement.

This is expounded upon in a booklet we've just released here at Gospel for Asia. It's simply titled Discouragement. Ready to defeat the discouragement that's resident in your life and move on? Well, it can be done, and K .P. shows us how in this handy little booklet, small enough to slip into your Bible, easy enough to read on your lunch break.

And maybe you can think of a friend, pastor, or even a relative that's going through a rough patch. Well, get a copy for them as well. You can conveniently order online at WinAsia .org. That's WinAsia .org.

Or call toll-free, 866-WinAsia. If you're in Canada, the number to call is 888 -946 -2742. Or go online to GospelForAsia .ca. K .P. is sharing some of the reasons behind the discouragement we so often face.

Once again, here's K .P. with another one.

Discouragement from Negative Friends and Counsel

Another reason for discouragement in my encounter with people in my own life, simply we have the wrong friends. We listen to the wrong counsel. I have no doubt words are more powerful than any weapon that you can imagine.

Remember, 600 ,000 people were spared from Egypt from slavery, not for these people to die in the wilderness. 18 days journey. Now they're standing on the border of this land that flows with milk and honey.

Tremendous blessings. But the problem, they send out a dozen spies, people to check out the land. And Joshua and Caleb were part of it. You read that in the book of Numbers, chapter 13 and 14 and all that.

You know what happened? Except Joshua and Caleb, all the 10, and these are important leaders of the congregation. They said, no way, we cannot do it. We saw giants in the land. They just would kill us.

The terrain, the land is difficult. And they said, we saw the giants and then we recognize that we are nothing but grasshoppers. Can you imagine that? But Joshua and Caleb said, you guys, what is wrong with you people?

God promised, let's go and take the land. It is given to us. But you read there in Numbers, the words of these majority, it called evil words, evil report began to work in the lives of the congregation and the whole congregation in one voice began to cry out saying that, why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us?

And they thought about killing Moses, stone him. What happened? The negative conversation, the negative words, the gossip, the bad talk caused this huge damage for the people of God. Then you read what God said to Moses, Moses, I heard what they said.

Let it be so. They said, we rather die in the wilderness than face the giants and the problems. Moses, they just can't believe that I am the one who promised. So according to their words, so be it. And they all died out in the wilderness, except Joshua and Caleb and the generation that was born in the wilderness.

You know the story. The reason I'm saying that to you, it is good to be on the email. It is good to have Facebook. It is good to listen to friends. But I want to ask you the question, what kind of friends you have?

People that pull you down, people that feed negativism and tell you, you are bad, nothing is going to work. Talk about problems after problems, yeah, look at the economy and what's going to happen. And all of a sudden, your focus is on the problems and difficulties incidentally.

Remember this. After 40 years now, Joshua is about to take the people, lead the people into the promised land. And you read in the early chapter of Joshua, in the book of Joshua, God says, Joshua, I just want to talk to you about something.

You know, by the way, I'm just saying it in my own language here. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Why? You see, the earlier times, 40 years ago, people heard negative conversation and fear gripped their hearts.

And Joshua, I want you not to be afraid. I promised it, it will happen. So it is with our lives, my brothers and sisters. Yes, the economy and whatever else and health reasons and all kind of stuff going on in the world today.

But you, as a child of God, you are given the promises of God and you don't have to despair. A million reasons for us to be discouraged about. But we have every reason under the sun, absolute, the promises of God that even in the midst of darkness in the entire land of Egypt, there will be light where the people of God live.

Trusting God's Promises in Difficult Times

My God shall supply every need you have according to his riches and glory through Jesus Christ. And that is God's promise. The Lord is my shepherd and I will lack nothing I shall not want. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.

And the promise of the Lord, do not worry about tomorrow. Do not be anxious about anything, but through prayer and thanksgiving, just let the Lord know your needs. He will answer. You see that in the book of Philippians chapter four and thousands and thousands of promises the Lord has given us.

Gratitude, Generosity, and Seeing the Needs of Others

Now think about this as we conclude. I do not know what or how much you know about US economy, which is of course, you know, one of the problem for a lot of people. But let's compare the US economy with the rest of the world.

US economy is still the largest by far compared to any country in the world. Poverty line for a person in the USA is $11 ,000 per year, that is about $30 per day. But think about it, half of the world lives on less than $2 .50 per day.

And 80 of the humanity lives on less than $10 a day. You got that? So we talk about unemployment and problems we have and all kind of things, but realize we still live in a nation which is the most affluent and blessed on planet earth.

But the question is sometimes we run into trouble because we think we need a lot of stuff that we really don't need. Now if you read my book Road to Reality, of course, that's the name of the program also as you know, you'll be surprised to learn how little it takes for us to live a joyful happy life if only we know how to do that.

By the way, you can get that book, that will be a blessing for you. But then think about this, in 2nd Corinthians chapter 8, we read about a bunch of believers, they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability.

These are the believers, the poor believers in Macedonia. Now, how did they do that? They were not looking at the work of God or what they should do based on their personal condition or lack or anything like that, but rather what is it we need to do or we can do to become part of the answer.

Now, God uses difficult times, not just to destroy us or we live with the discouragement and hopelessness. No, I think these are times, my brothers and sisters, for us to seek the face of God and say, Lord, help me to understand where I am.

And I think our focus ought not to be on ourselves because discouragement happens because often we are so consumed about our own little lives, not thinking of the reality of a world that we are part of, like over 2 billion people that wait to hear Jesus died for them on the cross.

When you have 160 million child laborers and millions of children, bonded child laborers working from morning till night in many parts of the third world countries, their daily wages 8, 9, 10 cents for the whole day slavery.

When was the last time your children cried out in desperation, please, mommy, I'm dying without food. Give me something to eat. No, usually our complaints, our murmuring, our discouragement comes from not having the ice cream, the brand name clothes or the new stuff we wanted.

Oh, listen, often we bring upon ourself the pain and agony and discouragement and then we blame the whole world for it and others for it. No, let us also now take time to look at the reality of the world we are living with and say, Lord, I have a million reasons to thank you for my problems are sheer luxury for millions of people.

Forgive me for complaining, murmuring, stay focused and trust the Lord and you don't have to say, oh, I wish I can die. Oh, I wish I can run away. No, you don't have to. God is real. The Lord Jesus Christ loves you.

His promises are true. And let us learn to depend on him and trust in his promises, even in the times of difficulties and uncertainties, for God remains faithful always. And he will remain faithful to you also.

God's Faithfulness Through a Lifetime of Service

It's been over 40 years since I heard the call of the Lord to serve him. As I look back, I can say he remained faithful every day of my life and same God made a promise to you also. May the Lord bless you.

We're dealing with discouragement this week here on the Road to Reality. K .P. Yohannan is the founder and director of Gospel for Asia, and we've picked out a resource today that ties in beautifully to what K .P. just spoke about.

It's a book called Discouragement. Maybe as K .P. was speaking, you were nodding in agreement as he listed the reasons for discouragement. God has answers for this common struggle, and K .P. points those out in this book again called Discouragement.

Request it online at winasia .org or call 866-WIN-ASIA. While you're at it, you might also ask for The Road to Reality, the other book K .P. mentioned on today's broadcast. Again, call 866-WIN-ASIA or simply go to winasia .org on the web.

For those in Canada, call 888 -946 -2742. We also have a website just for you at gospelforasia .ca. That's all the time we have for this week. We'll be back next week with more teaching and encouragement from K .P. Yohannan.

That's here on The Road to Reality, a ministry of Gospel for Asia.