How Can i Handle Discouragement

8/4/2019 How Can i Handle Discouragement

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How can i handle DiscouragementRommel Samaniego 7 Rommel Samaniego Sermons

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Topic: #256 of 513 for Sermons on Disappointment

Scripture: Nehemiah 4:10-10:14Denomination: Baptist

Date Added: May 2008Audience: General Young Adults (19 - 30)

Keywords: Problems, Mistakes, Discourage, Stress, (Suggest a Keyword)

HOW CAN I HANDLE DISCOURAGEMENT?

What can you do when you have the worlds deadliest decease?

Cancer, is fatal but atleast the Doctor can tell you when your going to

die

AIDS, right now with technology its not that Fatal (Magic Johnson), its not

that contagious.PolioNot really.

Let me give you some hints..

1. Its Universal, it can happen to almost everybody that can already think

for themselves. From 2- 2,000 years old.

2. Its recurring it can happen, again and again and againno not mumps.

3. Its highly contagiousjust be with the person for a while, you need not

touch him or talk to him, kahit na just looking at him, you can catch the

decease.

4. It starts with the letter D and ends with the letters ment.

Answer. DISCOURAGEMENT! Yes, It sometimes it Fatal, it has ruined

many lives, infected Millions or Billions of people just by being with them.

All of us must have experienced it, and most probably it will happen again

to us, thats the BAD NEWS.

The GOOD NEWS is that DISCOURAGEMENT is curableRead NEHEMIAH

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Nehemiah was the leader of a group of Jews that had returned to Israel

from Babylon to rebuild the Walls around Jerusalem. When they started

they were filled with fervor, zeal, and excitement about the project. Butafter working they also got discouraged.

Today, we will try to see why people get discouraged, and how to

overcome that discouragement-- what to do when we feel like giving up.

Vs. 10-12 Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The strength of the

laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild

the wall." Also our enemies said, "Before they know it or see us, we will


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be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work."

12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over,

"Wherever you turn, they will attack us."

I. Why Do People Get Discouraged?

1. They are just plain tired.Fatigue! the people in Judah said, "The

strength of the laborers is giving out In other words they have worked a

long time and were physically exhausted. Worn out--- Physically and

mentally drained. there are many times that people think that their

discouragement is Spiritual, but the truth is its physical, they just need a

break. Sometimes the most Spiritual thing to do is to rest.

Illust: I like the rest day last week, im glad there was a rest day. You

need it, he wants you to have it. We were designed to have rest. I saw

people lying down, I was happy for themJ

When do fatigue and discouragement come? Vs 6. 6 So we rebuilt the

wall till all of it reached half its heightYou get discouraged mid-way of the project, mid-way of the contract,

mid-wqy of the work. Everybody works hard at first., for the people

worked with all their heart. Why? Because of the newness of the prokect,

but then it gets boring, routine ,then ritual, then your in a rut.

Illustration: Me painting a room, sarap planuhin, gandang isipin, I was so

excited! Halfway through, I looked around and said. Im getting tired but

im only done, madami pa ito amd whats more dami ko pang lilinisin

pagkatapos! Yaay!

I did a fatiguing thing not long ago. I opened up our cabinet and found a

lot of pictures, halo-halo, church, school, home, hong-kong, jewels,

julieth, etcI thought of a noble and good thing, the best thing and the

easiest thing to do. Re-organize

the pictures, I have to put it into the albums, an hour came bye, im tirednow, I got discouraged and put them back where I found them.

2. FRUSTRATION- there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the

wall Thats frustration.They were building the wall but as they built the wall, and daming kalat.There was rubble, old broken rocks, dirt and all broken tools were around.When they looked at all the Debris, they got discouraged.They lost sightof the goal because of the junk in their lives.

Illus: Whenever you do a project, waste is going to accumulate.Remember I painted the walls, but there was more paint on the floor, on


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the cabinets. We cant avoid rubbish but we can learn to re-organize andlearn what to do with it so that we van move on to the original plan.

a. What is rubbish in your life? The little things that get in the way, theinterruptions, that keeps you from accomplishing your goals.

Illus: My member was trying to throw his trash can away. He said its theone thing you cant get the garbage man to pick up. He said, I set an oldrusty garbage can out at the street one morning thinking the garbageman would understand that it needed to be thrown away. He said, when Icame back that afternoon the can was stacked up with the rest of my

empty trash cans. Well the next week I put it out again and this time Iturned it upside down so they could see that the bottom had several holesin it and it needed thrown away. When I came home it was stacked upnext to the empty cans again. The next week I took a sledgehammer andI beat the can in pretty good and I left it out front and when I came home

not only was it stacked up next to the other empty trash cans but thegarbage man had actually tried to beat it back into shape. And so he saidfinally I did the only thing I could do. I went to the hardware store andbought a heavy duty chain and a padlock and I chained the old can to alarge tree in my front yard. And sure enough, that night somebody stoleit.

3. FAILURE- vs10 We cannot rebuild the wall.Can you hear what theyare saying? We cant do this, its impossiblethey feel that it is a failure.They thougt it would be easy and fast but when it took too long , they lostheart and got discouraged, FAILURES!

Illustration: Perhaps you heard of the large two-engined train wascrossing Canada. After it had gone some distance, one of the enginesbroke down. "No problem," the engineer thought, and carried on at halfpower. Farther on down the line, the other engine broke down, and thetrain came to a standstill. The engineer decided he should inform thepassengers about why the train had stopped, and made the followingannouncement: "Ladies and gentlemen, I have some good news and

some bad news. The bad news is that both engines have failed, and wewill be stuck here for some time. The good news is that you decided totake the train and not fly." The good news is that there is hope even infailure.

What do we do when we fail?

Some have a pity party, they say oh poor me, this cant be done, theycomplain.Some just blame others, its because they didnt do a good job thats whyI failed.

Illus: The story was passed on over internet about Little Billy, a Jewish


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boy, who was failing his math lessons. His parents tried everything theycould to get him to do better in this subject, but he continued to fail.

At last, they took him down to the Catholic School, and enrolled him.After the first day, Billy came home and went up to his room, closed the

door, and went to work on his math. His parents could hardly get himdown for dinner. After dinner, he went back and "hit the books again."When his report card came next time, he laid it on the table for hisparents to find. When his mother read it, she was amazed. He had an "A"in math. She questioned him about it wondering how such a change hadcome about. She asked him if it were the teachers, or the kind of books

they used, but he said "no." Then why the change in his math scores? Hesaid, "That first day at school, I looked up on the wall, and I saw a mannailed to a plus sign, and I knew that they were not fooling around here.So I went to work on my math." We all need a little motivation now andthen.

4. STOPPED BY FEAR- Also our enemies said, "Before they know it or seeus, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end tothe work."a. They were people in the land that didnt want the walls to be built

enemies.b. Walls meant- unity, safety, become strong againso they criticized,then ridiculed, then threatened.c. So the Jews got discouraged.A legend from India tells about a mouse that was terrified of cats until a

magician agreed to transform him into a cat. That resolved his fearuntilhe met a dog, so the magician changed him into a dog. The mouse-turned-cat-turned-dog was content until he met a tiger-so, once again;the magician changed him into what he feared. But when the tiger camecomplaining that he had met a hunter, the magician refused to help. Iwill make you into a mouse again, for though you have the body of atiger, you still have the heart of a mouse.

How will you know if your discouragement is out of fear? Simple, youhave the desire to run away!Illustration: My Dad loves this movie. The Giant is big and fearful, but as

you come near him. Cristopher De Leon, Apeng daldal.

d. Notice Who it was that got Discouraged. It was the Jews who livednear the Enemies.v12 those who hang out with negative people longenough will get their n=egativism too. If you keep hearing it cant bedone, you will also be saying it cant be done too.

After all this Bad news that discourages us, we need not be discouraged


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because there is the antidote. Notice what Nehemiah did as a wise leaderand a man of God. He knew what it was that was discouraging the peopleso he took the proper actions.

II. THE SOLUTION

1. REORGANIZE- Find a better way - v13. Therefore I positioned someof the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places,posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows.--- Ineffect, were going to get organized. Were going to get a new systemhere, you people there and the other people there, and well get thisproblem solved.

When you get discouraged dont give up on the goal, instead device anew approach. When you are Discouraged it doesnt mean that you aredoing the wrong thing. You might be doing the right thing in the wrongway. Was it wrong for the Jews to rebuild the wall? Absolutely not. They

were doing the right thing in the wrong way, so they got discouraged.

Whats your problem that is discouraging you? Dont give up on it. Tryreorganizing. Marriage? A new approach.

Saying. Kung hindi madaan sa santong paspasan, santong dasalan na

lang

Illus: We had 2 months of reorganization and planning.b. We need a support Group- Nehemiah posted them by FamiliesWhenI am down you lift me up, when you are down I will lift you up. Thats a

support group.Illus: A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fellinto the farmers well. The farmer heard the mule "braying", or whatevermules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation,the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mulenor the well were worth the trouble of saving. Instead he called hisneighbors together and told them what had happened...and enlisted them

to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of hismisery. Initially, the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and hisneighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back...a thought struckhim. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt

landed on his back.....HE SHOULD SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP! This hedid blow after blow. "Shake it off and step up...shake it off and step

up...shake it off and step up!" he repeated to encourage himself. Nomatter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed the oldmule fought "panic" and just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF ANDSTEPPING UP! It was not long before the old mule, battered andexhausted, STEPPED TRIUMPHANTLY OVER THE WALL OF THAT WELL.What seemed like it would bury him, actually blessed him.....all because


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of the manner in which he handled his adversity. THATS LIFE! If we faceour problems, respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic,bitterness or self-pity... The adversities that come along to bury ususually have within them the potential to benefit and bless us!

2. REMEMBER YOUR LEADER- Neh. 4:14 After I looked things over, Istood up and said to the Nobles, officials anf the people. Dont be afraid ofthem. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome.

a. Remember what the Lord has already done in your life. That will liftyou up. All the good things, will lift up your spirit.

A Young Businessman came to his pastor discouraged and said pastor Idlost everything The pastor repliesYou have lost your valuesNot exactly.You have lost your character no not exactly it is still there.Eternal lifeno its still there

b. Remember Gods closeness in the Present. I will never leave you norforsake youDaniel 3:14-28 14Nebuchadnezzar said to them, Is it true, O Shadrach,Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods and you do notworship the golden statue that I have set up? 15Now if you are ready

when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, andentire musical ensemble to fall down and worship the statue that I havemade, well and good.* But if you do not worship, you shall immediatelybe thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god that willdeliver you out of my hands? 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

answered the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present adefence to you in this matter. 17If our God whom we serve is able todeliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king,let him deliver us.* 18But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we willnot serve your gods and we will not

worship the golden statue that you have set up.

c. Remember Gods power for the Future.

3. FIGHT THE GLOOMY OUTLOOK Neh. 4:14 Fight for your brothers,fight for your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes. What

is Nehemiah sayingDont yield to discouragement without a fight.Resist discouragement.

You do not have to be discouraged, it is a choice that we choose. Youmay choose to give in but great people choose not to be discouraged.

Illus: THE GRADUATION GIFT A young man was getting ready to graduatefrom college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in adealers showroom, and knowing that his father could well afford it, he


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