Are you unfocused or discouraged?

• By candidasullivan
• March 27, 2024
• No Comments

I’ve had a tough time lately. I don’t feel focused or inspired, and I’m even struggling with the discipline to do the things I know I need to do. 

I didn’t go to the gym or work out for four days straight, and I couldn’t even find the strength to care. 

As the inward battle continued this morning, I asked God what was wrong with me. Why can’t I focus and do what I need to do? Why am I not showing up as the best version of myself? 

And the truth is that I’m discouraged. 

Right now, the enemy is using discouragement as one of his weapons to attack me. He shows me my battles and all the prayers God hasn’t answered for me. Then he layers on so much pain and disappointment that my heart aches continuously. 

My discouragement comes from focusing more on the storm’s severity than my Lord’s power. Sometimes, the battle may seem vast and unattainable. And we wonder where God is in those times. Why won’t our God step in and fix things when we know He can with ease? Why do we have to suffer through our trials?

I think God’s purpose for the trial is greater than my comfort. Sometimes, things have to get really dark for us to see the true magnitude of God’s light. When God makes the impossible possible for us, it glorifies Him. A beautiful example of this is Lazarus in the Bible. Jesus could have prevented Lazarus from dying, and that would have been powerful. But raising him from the dead was more powerful. It showed others that Jesus had power over death. 

While there might be power in preventing hard times, there is also great power in overcoming them. God could have stopped the bands from attacking me, but He allowed it because He knew the power of helping me overcome my circumstances would be even more powerful. 

God is in control. Nothing happens beyond His realm of power. So when things happen beyond our understanding, we must cling to Romans 8:28.

Romans 8:28 KJV

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

I love the sheer HOPE in this verse. Knowing that my God can take all of my pain, heartaches, troubles, disappointments, faults, failures, doubts, and fears and use them for something good encourages me. My God can take the discouragement from the enemy and transform it into encouragement for me and others. He can take my fear and turn it into faith. 

God doesn’t need me to fight His battles. He just needs me to stand still, believe wholeheartedly in His POWER, and praise Him through the storms. God doesn’t forget His promises. He will take care of us.

If you enjoyed this, please share it with someone else.