Ken Lovelace Ministries


F a i t h M a t t e r s with Dr. Ken Lovelace Emphasis: Discouragement *Circumstantial Evidence* Do you ever get discouraged? Are there times when the criticism of your best friend sneaks up on you and deflates you? Does your spouse of friend or parent or child seem to know just what to say to let the air out of your sails? Many have had to deal regularly with the obstacles of discouragement in their lives, but somehow they seem to find a way to overcome. Charles Schulz was one such over-comer. On February 6, 2000, both Charles Schulz and his comic strip, Peanuts, died. But at the time of his death, Schulz's work appeared in twenty-six hundred newspapers worldwide, and was the basis of a franchise earning $1 billion a year. Since its modest debut in just seven papers on October 2, 1950, Charlie Brown and his gang became a constant feature of daily life for nearly fifty years. Ironically, the work of Charles Schulz should have never been noticed. He learned his trade through a correspondence school and earned a C in "the drawing of children." The tall, skinny outsider at St. Paul High School was a lousy student who hoped his gangly cartoons would be accepted for print in his 1940 senior yearbook. The annuals went to press without the drawings. Though discouraged, the fledgling artist was undaunted in the pursuit of his dream. Through determination and perseverance, Charles Schulz fulfilled his childhood goal and became the most widely syndicated cartoonist in the world.1 Discouragement could have left Schulz in the dust, like it does so many of us. When the pain caused by rejection, criticism, humiliation, unfair treatment, neglect, and so many other actions others engage in, either actively or passively, turns our hearts a pitiable shade of gray, discouragement becomes the vantage point from which we taintedly see our world. The debilitating germs of discouragement can infect our whole perspective, causing us to be unable to see and think clearly. It's for reasons like these that we have to be diligent to identify the culprit and act to extract it from our hearts. Once we've identified it, admitted its effect on us, and purposed to do something about it, we can depend on God to lift us out of the muck of discouragement that bogged us down and left us ineffective. David was intimately acquainted with the deflating influence of discouragement. But he found that when he turned his eyes away from himself and his discouraging circumstances and to God, the Lord would act to displace his discouragement with encouragement. He said it like this: "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul" (Psalm 23:1-3). The process of moving beyond the discouragement and finding the sun shining brightly on our day is a two-step process: first, we acknowledge we're in a position of vulnerability, focusing only on our world, and we need help. Second, we then turn to the only One who can help us and we find that in doing so, "He restores" our souls. But it doesn't stop there; there are many other benefits found here. Take time to read the twenty-third Psalm and find the treasures within. Look for all the other things God does for us when we place our gaze back on Him. We can't help but be encouraged. As you pray today, seek God's face in the midst of any pain and discouragement through which you may be going. Ask Him to give you the courage and strength to turn your gaze from yourself to the Lord God who longs to lead you beside the quiet waters of refreshment. Take this opportunity to draw near to Him...and He will draw near to you. He loves us like that, you know! __________ 1Houston Chronicle, Dec. 1, 1999, p. 4D. Copyright © 2008. Faith Matters by Dr. Ken Lovelace. All rights reserved. KDT090507B_101308

F a i t h M a t t e r s
with Dr. Ken Lovelace
Emphasis: Discouragement

Circumstantial Evidence

Do you ever get discouraged? Are there times when the criticism of your best friend sneaks up on you and deflates you? Does your spouse of friend or parent or child seem to know just what to say to let the air out of your sails? Many have had to deal regularly with the obstacles of discouragement in their lives, but somehow they seem to find a way to overcome. Charles Schulz was one such over-comer.

On February 6, 2000, both Charles Schulz and his comic strip, Peanuts, died. But at the time of his death, Schulz's work appeared in twenty-six hundred newspapers worldwide, and was the basis of a franchise earning $1 billion a year. Since its modest debut in just seven papers on October 2, 1950, Charlie Brown and his gang became a constant feature of daily life for nearly fifty years.

Ironically, the work of Charles Schulz should have never been noticed. He learned his trade through a correspondence school and earned a C in "the drawing of children." The tall, skinny outsider at St. Paul High School was a lousy student who hoped his gangly cartoons would be accepted for print in his 1940 senior yearbook. The annuals went to press without the drawings. Though discouraged, the fledgling artist was undaunted in the pursuit of his dream. Through determination and perseverance, Charles Schulz fulfilled his childhood goal and became the most widely syndicated cartoonist in the world.1

Discouragement could have left Schulz in the dust, like it does so many of us. When the pain caused by rejection, criticism, humiliation, unfair treatment, neglect, and so many other actions others engage in, either actively or passively, turns our hearts a pitiable shade of gray, discouragement becomes the vantage point from which we taintedly see our world. The debilitating germs of discouragement can infect our whole perspective, causing us to be unable to see and think clearly. It's for reasons like these that we have to be diligent to identify the culprit and act to extract it from our hearts.

Once we've identified it, admitted its effect on us, and purposed to do something about it, we can depend on God to lift us out of the muck of discouragement that bogged us down and left us ineffective. David was intimately acquainted with the deflating influence of discouragement. But he found that when he turned his eyes away from himself and his discouraging circumstances and to God, the Lord would act to displace his discouragement with encouragement. He said it like this: "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul" (Psalm 23:1-3).

The process of moving beyond the discouragement and finding the sun shining brightly on our day is a two-step process: first, we acknowledge we're in a position of vulnerability, focusing only on our world, and we need help. Second, we then turn to the only One who can help us and we find that in doing so, "He restores" our souls. But it doesn't stop there; there are many other benefits found here. Take time to read the twenty-third Psalm and find the treasures within. Look for all the other things God does for us when we place our gaze back on Him. We can't help but be encouraged.

As you pray today, seek God's face in the midst of any pain and discouragement through which you may be going. Ask Him to give you the courage and strength to turn your gaze from yourself to the Lord God who longs to lead you beside the quiet waters of refreshment. Take this opportunity to draw near to Him...and He will draw near to you. He loves us like that, you know!

__________
1Houston Chronicle, Dec. 1, 1999, p. 4D.

Copyright © 2008. Faith Matters by Dr. Ken Lovelace. All rights reserved.

KDT090507B_101308