Marble and Sand

Have you ever been discouraged? Like negative things just keep happening one after the other: you sleep through your alarm, then you burn breakfast, get caught in traffic which makes you even LATER, get yelled at for being late, forget your wallet and lunch at home, snap at a co-worker because you’re hangry, come home to your wallet having sat in a puddle on the counter…etc. Some days it just doesn’t seem to let up!! 

When you think about it, discouragement is really just a string of disappointments.

Sometimes we get disappointed because our experiences don’t match our expectations. Maybe we try something new and fail. Perhaps we’ve been caught up in the comparison trap and have made ourselves feel bad. Perhaps we’re facing obstacles we never anticipated. Or maybe things just aren’t working out the way we hoped they would. 

All of these things can contribute to feelings of discouragement. 

“Too many people write their blessings in the sand, and engrave their sorrows in marble.” -Charles Spurgeon
 

We like to spend time dwelling on sorrows because it helps others feel sorry for us. We love pity. Our flesh loves to revel in the Charlie Brown Syndrome, where nothing good ever seems to work out. And then others join us in complaining about how hard life is. It’s so easy to do. 

The only way I’ve found to combat those feelings is to be thankful. To make a point of praising God for SOMETHING.

Even when our circumstances aren’t changing, even when we aren’t sure what God is doing, or why He has allowed something, we can be thankful that He isn’t changing, either! He is always good, kind, gracious, merciful, forgiving, loving, righteous…and it can be so encouraging to remember that, even when life is hard. 

Things aren’t always going to go smoothly for us. We are promised tribulation in this world. We aren’t supposed to be surprised when we face fiery trials, or when we don’t get what we want. God’s plans are always for our good and His glory. 

“Instead of a river, God often gives us a brook, which may be running today and dried up tomorrow. Why? To teach us not to rest in our blessings, but in the blesser Himself.” 
-Arthur W. Pink

If you were to make a list of things you were thankful for today, how many would be blessings, and how many would be about the Blesser Himself? 

Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

Psalm 30:4 Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

Psalm 106:1 Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psalm 30:11-12 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;
(12) To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.