Overcoming Discouragement

Overcoming discouragement is one of the most important things all of us have to do in life. Discouragement and disillusionment almost always come after unfulfilled expectations. Several people in the Bible found themselves picking up the pieces of shattered dreams and even despaired of their lives. They were Job, Moses, Jeremiah, Jonah, and Elijah. Let’s take a look at Elijah so that we can see ourselves in his depression and sadness.

Elijah was an extraordinary character in the Bible, a man of extreme faith and courage. However, there is a scene where he is sitting under a broom tree, and this is what he says, “I have had enough, Lord…take my life; I am no better than my ancestors” (1 Kings 19:4). How did the prophet get to this place?

Three and half years prior, he announced to King Ahab a coming drought for the nation.  Then Elijah disappeared, and God miraculously provided for him during these years, first, by having ravens bring him food and then by sustaining him through the care of a poor widow woman. The scripture declares: “For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry” (1 Kings 17:16). Elijah even raised her little boy from the dead.

Later at God’s command, Elijah challenged Ahab and his 450 prophets of Baal to a showdown. The prophets would prepare a sacrifice and call on their God, he would do the same, and the God who answered by fire would be the one true God. Baal never responded to his prophets, but the God of Israel responded to Elijah’s prayer, “Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord-he is God! The Lord-he is God!”

(1 Kings 18:38-39).

Elijah was ecstatic, and he prayed for rain, and it came. He then outran King Ahab’s chariot in a twenty-mile race to the palace. Elijah expected things to be different now. Then came the moment he realized they were not. The furious Queen Jezebel sent Elijah this message, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them” (1 Kings 19:2-4). Elijah was overcome with fear, so he ran for his life. He ran until he could run no more and collapsed of fatigue, and there he asked God to take his life because he had had enough.

God sent an angel to minister to Elijah in his discouragement: The angel woke him up and gave him food to eat and let him rest. Then again, he woke him and gave him more food (1 Kings 19:5-7). God showed his love for the prophet is such a gentle way.

Several signs help us to discover why Elijah wound up in this state of depression: First, he was fatigued after traveling nearly 200 miles. When we fail to take care of our bodies, we are at risk. Second, he had isolated himself from everyone. When we cut ourselves off from others, we are in a dangerous position. Third, Elijah experienced a roller-coaster of emotions—highs and lows. Extreme emotions take a toll on us. We can’t live on feelings alone. Fourth, he experienced unmet expectations, which caused him to be disillusioned. Fifth, he experienced fear, which caused him to run for his life. Sixth, he felt guilt and shame, which are powerful forces if left unchecked. Seventh, this was a spiritual battle, and we need spiritual intervention from God to overcome a spiritual enemy that is seeking to destroy our lives.

My Response

During the last month, we have witnessed the blatant destruction of property and pointless deaths and injuries of bystanders and police by rioters. Regrettably, this chaos started with the senseless and cruel death of a black man at the hands of the police. The entire nation was horrified, but that critical moment was soon lost as the protests were hijacked by looters and thugs and quickly turned to riots.

In the ensuing days, the Black Lives Matter movement gained power by quantum leaps. Their resentful and hate-filled rhetoric toward whites and the nation produced a humiliating response from white leaders across the country. We have seen whites kneeling and even lying prostrate and asking forgiveness. These acts of contrived remorse are supposed to demonstrate that those whites are sorry for the accumulated wrongs done to blacks. However, anyone sharing a different opinion than that of the Black Lives Matter movement is immediately condemned and marginalized as a racist.

I have stood against prejudice all my life, whether racial or class; it makes no difference; it is all sinful. Is there racial prejudice by police towards blacks? I think we can all be sure of that because we have seen evidence of it. We have also seen evidence of prejudice and hatred from blacks to whites and toward the police. We can all agree there is racial injustice; what we cannot agree on is the solution. We can all agree that there is privilege. It exists in every country and every culture. Stalin condemned the educated because they were more privileged. Hitler condemned the Jews because they were more prosperous. Condemning one whole race of people based on their skin color or ethnicity or privilege is reprehensible. Can we not remember the history that tells us this has been done over and over?  One group denounces an entire race as the cause of their pain and demands that they acknowledge the wrong. I mention just a few: Rwanda genocide, the Armenian genocide, the Jewish genocide, Stalin and the gulags, Mao Zedong and the Chinese, and how about the Native American and the list goes on and on. It always begins by pointing out how one race or group is at fault and needs to pay for their sins. There is almost always a cultural cleansing of unacceptable books, statues, historical monuments and property. Justified stealing from these people is encouraged. Remember, however, in all these attempts to rid the countries of injustice, they failed to deliver the utopias they promised.

I am amazed at how many businesses and individuals feel compelled to bow down before the Black Lives Matter movement and appease them, and it is Appeasement! There is this panic to prove to the bully that “I am not a racist.”

The truth is Black Lives Matter is not about race; it’s about taking over the power of this country. It’s about changing it from the bottom up. That is clear in the choice of historical monuments being destroyed. For example, several statues of Abraham Lincoln have been toppled while the statue of Stephen Douglas is allowed to stand. Lincoln gave his life to end slavery, and Douglas defended slavery. What we see in this country is subversive, and we are on the brink of anarchy. We need God’s help to keep our nation safe. However, it is time for people who love this country to take a stand. I want to deal with all inequality in a meaningful way, but I condemn demagoguery no matter who it is. Black Lives Matter is code for we want to destroy the country and start over with a Socialistic/Communistic system.  It’s time to take our country back from the hands of anarchists.

Anyone who has lived abroad and experienced world poverty and injustice knows that we may have problems here, but we are so far ahead of most of the world. There is a reason people keep coming to this country by the millions.

Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism is a term we hear a lot today. In any academic field from high school to graduate school, it is a required course. Multiculturalism has spread across the world like wildfire. Most large companies require multicultural training. The idea behind this concept is that we should respect and accept all cultures because it makes us better. That sounds reasonable. Prejudice against any people is condemned in scripture because God looks at all people in the same way.

However, multiculturalism goes further than embracing the value of all human beings and denouncing racial prejudice. It encompasses the idea that all religions are equally good. We should, therefore, welcome all religions and give them an equal place in our belief system. Our constitution indeed establishes freedom for a plurality of religions. However, it is essential to know that multiculturalism judges anyone as bigoted and intolerant that does not entirely accept this concept.

It is here that we must part ways with multiculturalism when we are told that we cannot judge another religion. We cannot say Christianity is the true religion, and that there are false religions. To say that is to demonstrate societal prejudice. Multiculturalism spawns reverse bigotry and hatred toward those it deems to be the perpetrators of racism, thus “White Guilt.” The Biblical approach to solve the racial divide of the world is summed up by Micah, “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

The prophet Elijah confronted multiculturalism when he challenged the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. He called all Israel and the prophets of Baal to a contest to decide who is the one true God. Elijah laid out the rules—offer a sacrifice but put no fire to it and the God that answers by fire will be proven to be the true God (1 Kings 18:20-29). This story is about whether there is really a true and living God who reigns above all other gods.

The account of the prophet Elijah on Mt Carmel challenging King Ahab and the prophets of Baal is relevant because it was a contest of religions. Ahab and his queen, Jezebel, welcomed other gods and tried to silence the voice of the prophets of the God of the Bible. Have you noticed how tolerant and inclusive societies welcome religions of all kinds? At the same time, these same societies do their best to silence the voices of Christians. There is a clear parallel to our time and the hostility we are seeing toward the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We see tolerance toward Islam and other religions while seeing hatred and intolerance toward Christianity. Bakers, florists, photographers, printers, and all kinds of business people are being sued and prosecuted by the state for their religious beliefs. In contrast, people of the Islamic faith who hold similar beliefs are tolerated and even celebrated. One might object that Christianity is rejected because of its exclusive view of One God, but Islam has the same view.

Mount Carmel was the Lord’s demonstration of the emptiness and futility of the Baal religion. Baal was not real because he had no voice. That matters because the Lord is real. The persistent problem with religion is that it replaces the reality of trusting God. All religions might seem harmless, but they are not. Paul told the Colossians, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ” (Col 2:8). Paul emphatically said that reality is found in Jesus Christ. Religion is a set of beliefs, but Jesus is a living person that transforms your life.