Overcoming Spiritual Discouragement by Jesus’ Empowerment
- Jack Selcher
- Sep 18
- 2 min read
While still in Persia, Nehemiah did not realize how hard rebuilding Jerusalem’s wall would be. Once he started, problems sprouted like mushrooms on a wet summer night.
First, he faced sarcasm. Then mockery. Then he encountered open opposition, criticism, and conspiracy.
Discouragement settled over Jerusalem like a plume of mustard gas. Even breathing was a chore. Moving forward was like swimming through oatmeal.
Nehemiah 4:10-23 identifies causes of and cures for discouragement. The wall builders were tired.
They had thrown themselves into the task and completed half of it (Nehemiah 4:6). Their initial excitement had waned.
Weariness fogged the sharp vision they once had of a completed project. The unfinished half of the work seemed ten times bigger than the completed half.
The workers began to view themselves and the future negatively. Tiredness deflated their initial “we can do it” confidence.
The piles of rubbish that remained took on Mount Everest proportions. Their confidence evaporated. Their “we can” attitude had slowly morphed into “we cannot.”
A feeling of vulnerability depressed them. Sanballat, Tobiah, and others intimidated them by threatening to attack them unexpectedly.
We face discouragement for the same reasons the wall builders did. What can we do about it?
Significant losses can cause our emotions to overflow the dams that keep them in check. Then, discouragement can rise to flood-stage proportions.
Even great preachers like Charles Spurgeon have experienced it. He felt insufficient for the demands his success brought him.
We can overcome discouragement by joining others to make more and better disciples.
Nehemiah turned the focus of his discouraged workers from themselves to those who opposed them. Similarly, we must refocus on God’s will, the resources He provides (Philippians 4:19, 2 Corinthians 9:8), and how we can contribute to accomplishing it (1 Corinthians 12:7).
Both building (Ephesians 4:29, Romans 15:2, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, 1 Corinthians 14:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Jude 1:20) and fighting (1 Corinthians 9:26, 2 Corinthians 10:4, 1 Timothy 1:18, 1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 4:7) are parts of the Christian life.
Like the wall builders who constructed with one hand and held a weapon in the other, making more and better disciples requires building God’s kingdom while fighting His enemies. That is what healthy churches do. People in sick churches build human kingdoms and fight one another.
Jesus gives us the daily energy and emotional strength to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:20). Obstacles to avoid include apathy, wrong priorities, and the pleasures of other things.
We cannot let them stop us. Build up! Fight on! What is your takeaway?
See additional free spiritual growth resources for Christians.
God has empowered me to write His Power for Your Weakness—260 Steps Toward Spiritual Strength. It’s a free, evangelistic, devotional, and discipleship e-book. Pastors have used it in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia to lead 6,090 people to Christ and teach the basics of Christianity to 15,150 people. I invite you to explore and use it in your setting.
Comments