March 3, Discouragement

Today’s reading: Psalms 11-15

“Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore;
those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.”
- Psalm 12:1

David was discouraged as he wrote this psalm and uttered a statement that only fed his discouragement. He proclaimed that only he was faithful, and that everyone else was a group of disloyal malcontents. Discouragement causes you to distort reality and leads to a downward spiral from which it is difficult to escape. Elijah also manifested this kind of discouraging talk when he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too” (1 Kings 19:14). The Lord assured Elijah he was not the only one, and that there were 7,000 other faithful people in the land in addition to Elijah. Are you discouraged? To whom can you go or what can do that will help you break your discouragement cycle? What is your self talk like? Is it feeding or curtailing your discouragement?