UNITY CHRIST EVANGELICAL MINISTRY (UCEM)

Chapter Six

WHY YOU SHOULD NOT BE DISCOURAGED

You should not be discouraged because Jesus is with you

Jesus said in Matthew Chapter 28 verse 20, ‘…and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’

Some people of God have difficulty believing that Jesus is with them in their time of troubles because they can’t feel His presence.

But whether we can feel the presence of the Lord or not, the fact remains that wherever we go, and whatever the situation, the Lord is with us.

Yes, Jesus is with you right now, though earthly joy seems to have flown away from you, though the storm of problem is raging about you, though it seems that you are alone in the world and nobody cares for you.

Dr. David Livingstone said that this promise of Jesus to be with his people always, even to the end of the world, was what supported him through all the years of exile among a people whose language he could not understand, and whose attitude toward him was often uncertain and often hostile.

“On these words I staked everything, and they never failed!” he said.

You too can stake everything on these words. You will find that the promises of God are indubitable. They are unfailing.

In your time of crisis and trials, let this promise of the Lord be your comfort and support, because faithful is he that promised. You can rely on the never-failing promises of God. You can lean hard on it. Jesus will never fail you because He never fails.

Because Jesus is with you, don’t let the suffering you are passing through and the problems assailing you discourage you.

 “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee’’ Hebrews 13:5. Jesus is never one to dine and wine with you in good days and ditch you in bad days, like worldly friends often do.

Isaiah 43:2, 5

2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

5 Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west

This scripture affirms God’s great care and concern for His children. And that includes you, doesn’t it? 

When you are wading through the water of hardship, God will be with you. When you are passing through the swollen river of problems, be assured that the loving and caring God will be with you to protect you from drowning in the problems. God may allow you to get into problems, but if you stand on His powerful Word in faith, He will never allow troubles to overcome you.

When you are passing through the fire of fiery trial, you shall not get burnt. Put your trust in God and refuse to be discouraged, you shall not perish in the fiery furnace of great trial. ‘He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.’ Ps 91:15.

In a ship sailing close to the shore of Crete, helped along by a gentle breeze blowing from the south, was the Apostle Paul. The moderate wind soon gave way to a violent wind called Euroclydon. The ship was snatched along by it and dashed down from Crete. For a number of days, the raging storm continued to molest the ship and its passengers. All hope of being saved vanished.

            When the passengers had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up in their midst and announced, “Sir, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheers for there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am; and whom I serve, saying, fear not Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me “Acts 27:21.

            God didn’t prevent Paul’s ship from getting caught up in a storm. But the good God was right there with Paul in the storm. And He delivered His servant. According to the angel of the Lord, the people in the ship were delivered just because of Paul. ‘God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.’

            Friend, take courage and be of good cheers because the Lord is right there with you in that storm you find yourself.

You should not be discouraged because God will help you

Isaiah 41:10,13

10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

            This is a promise you can lean on in the days of trouble. God will help you.

God will help you because He is with you

            Someone was in a big trouble. He suffered greatly before he finally went under and it became too late for anyone to be able to do anything to help him. Then a kind relative of his learnt about his predicament. The relative who had the ability to provide the help that fellow needed cried, “Oh, had I been here in time, I would have helped and saved you, my brother.”

            Though that person would have given his kinsman the needed help, he couldn’t get to the needy one in time. God wants to help you and He cannot get to you too late. The fact is, he is  already with you – right where you sit, stand, crouch or lie down.

God will help you because he is able to help you

            There are people who would like to help you but don’t have the ability to.

            A woman whose child is dying would like to pull the child free from the cruel grip of death. But because she is not able to, the child will die. A good man may like to save a starving man. But the man will fail to carry out his good intention if he can barely manage to avoid starving himself. A person who is unable to clothe himself will not be able to clothe another person.

            A group of girls cried helplessly on the bank of a big river while their friend was drowning. They would like to get her out of that river. But they were unable to because they couldn’t swim. A group of men cried like babies as they watched the car of their friend burning, with their friend and his wife trapped in it. They would like to save him and his wife from burning if they were able to. Unfortunately, they were not able to.

            Unless a person possesses the ability to help you,. He will fail to help you, however great his desire to.

            God is able to help you.

Jeremiah 32:27

Behold, I am the lord of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?

            How can there be anything too hard for the Creator of the heaven and earth – the omnipotent? He is able to do all things.

            To begin to understand the power and ability of God to do all things, take some minutes to consider our universe, which is created by God.

            Let’s start with our earth. It is a big place, about 12,700 kilometer in diameter.

            It is a wonderful place filled with gigantic and beautiful things created by God: the Rocky Mountains, a long chain of mountains that stretches along the western side of North America, extending from Alaska to Mexico; the Alps, the greatest mountain range in Europe, which extend from southern France, through Switzerland and northern Italy into Austria; the Himalayas, which make up the world’s greatest mountain range – a range that contains the world’s highest peaks, of which the tallest is Everest; the Grand Canyon of USA the most spectacular of canyons of the earth; large rivers of the world, chiefs among which are Volga, the longest river in Europe, the Danube of Europe, the Nile and the Niger of Africa; the waterfalls spilling over cliffs in spectacular curtains of water; the geysers sending plumes of hot steam and spray shooting into the air; the great deserts, the thick jungles, the mighty seas and oceans that make up seven-tenths of the surface of the earth.

            Yet, the earth is small in comparison with the sun, another work of the hand of God. The sun, the star around which the planets of our solar system revolve, is an immense ball of glowing gas. Its surface is about 6,000 degree centigrade and deep inside, the temperature is estimated to be more than 14 million degree centigrade. It is about 1.4 million kilometer in diameter. It takes up over one million times as much space as the earth.

            Yet, the sun is small in comparison with many other works of the hands of God in the universe. There are many stars that are larger and hotter than the Sun. Our galaxy (Milky Way Galaxy) contains over 100 billion star. Some scientists estimate at least 200 to 400 billion stars in our galaxy.

            Our Milky Way galaxy is so big that if you could travel as fast as light (186,282 miles a second) it would take you 100,000 years to cross it! It is about 600 quadrillion (600,000,000,000,000,000) miles in diameter! Our Solar System - the Sun, the Earth and other planets with their moons - is only a very tiny part of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Our fantastic Milky Way Galaxy is only one of the tens of billion of galaxies in the Universe! Some astronomers estimate that there are 100 billion galaxies in the Universe! And each of the 100 billion galaxies may contain hundreds of billions of stars! These billions of galaxies, each with its billions of stars, make up the Universe.

Who created the awesome Universe?

God. The same God who manifests Himself to human beings through Jesus Christ. Is such a mighty God not able to help you?

God will help you because He cares for you

1 Peter 5:7

Casting all your cares upon him; for he careth for you.

            God cares for you as His child. The hardship you are going through right now should not make you think that God does not care for you. The Word of God says emphatically that God cares for you. His loving care for you is greater than what your parents or anybody in the world can ever show you.

            May be you are wondering, “If God really cares for me, why does he allow me to pass through this jungle filled with thorns?’’

            Jacob might have asked the same question when he was running from his brother, Esau: “If God really cares for me why does he allow that wicked Esau to kick me out of my father’s house, turning me adrift in a strange world?’’ But God, in the end, proved to him how much He cared for him.

            Joseph must have wondered in the Egyptian prison in which he was languishing, “Is this the greatness God promised me? Does God really care for me? If God cares for me why am I here?” Anybody who is familiar with Bible stories will realize how much God cares for Joseph, even in the prison.

            God cares for you and because He does, He will help you.

To read the remaining interesting and encouraging thirteen chapters of DON'T BE DICOURAGED, CLICK HERE