DISCOURAGEMENT, CONTINUED.
3. Causes of discouragement within ourselves. No person has such
a full view of his own astonishing weakness as does the holy man.
"Oh," says some one, "a holy man is not weak." Indeed, and who is
this that is wiser than what is written? Paul says, "I was with you
in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling" (1 Cor. 2:3) Again,
"Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? If
I must needs glory, I will glory in the things which concern mine
infirmities" (2 Cor. 11:29, 30.) Again, "And he said unto me, My
grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in
weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my
infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Cor.
12:9). And many other passages on the same line. Paul felt that by
his personal weakness he was made strong in Christ, that he was
compassed about with infirmities, and that he was set forth last, as
it were, delivered unto death. Will we assist the three false
friends of Job by adding accusation upon accusation because he cried
unto God from the sackcloth and ashes of his own personal weakness
and suffering?
I prayed that in a certain place God would give me one hundred
souls. He answered my prayers. In another place I prayed just as
earnestly and with just as much burden, but no fruit was
forthcoming. My weakness! my weakness! Oh, that I had the ability of
a Paul, the eloquence of an Apollos, the strength of a Peter the
courage of a Daniel, the burden of a Jeremiah, the triumphant faith
of an Isaiah, the power of a Moses, the spiritual sweetness of a
David, the thunderous power of a John or a James, Yet, above all, if
I had the divine compassion of my Master Himself, then, hear and be
ashamed, O earth! I could not, in some places, do many mighty works,
because of their unbelief! I conclude that my own weakness
reproaches me, perhaps, when it should not, but this does not always
hinder me from accusing myself of being a failure. Is not this the
common experience of the God-fearing, God-bearing, burden-bearing
servants of God?
Oh, that I might plead with Moses, weep with Jeremiah, mourn with
Isaiah, groan with Paul and go to Gethsemane with Jesus; oh, that I
might see the travail of my soul, and look upon new-born souls; but
are your hopes blasted and your prayers unanswered? Despair not,
for, God has said it, "In due season ye shall reap if ye faint not."
It may be that God writes success when men, and even yourself, write
failure.
Jeremy Taylor likens us to the fabled lamps in the tomb of Terentia
which burned underground for many ages, but as soon as they were
brought out and saw a brighter light, went out in darkness. Then he
adds, "So long as we are in the retirements of sorrow, of want, of
fear, of sickness, we are burning and shining lamps; but when God
lifts us up from the gates of death, and carries us abroad into the
open air, to converse with prosperity and temptations, we go out in
darkness, and we can not be preserved in light and heat, but by
still dwelling in the regions of sorrow." There is beauty and some
truth in all this, but the danger is that such a life would produce
only a morbid and ghastly piety, and these bright lights would
irradiate -- "only a tomb." But God knows how to temper the sunshine
and the rain. "He who made us, and who tutors us, alone knows what
is the exact measure of light and shade, sun and cloud, frost and
heat, which will best tend to mature those flowers which are the
object of His celestial husbandry; and which, when transplanted into
the paradise of God, are to bloom there forever in amaranthine
loveliness" (Rogers.)
Then, who is it that has reached a place in his religious experience
where he is completely satisfied? He may be satisfied with the
quality, and he is if his heart is cleansed, but the quantity is
another question. Show us the man who has reached a place of
complete satisfaction, and we will show you a man who has become
stagnant in soul. The Psalmist declares that he will be satisfied
when he awakes in the likeness of God. There is a possibility that
present attainments when measured by the attainments of others, and
the vast possibilities of grace, will seem so meager that there will
be danger of the soul sinking in despair unless strenuous effort is
immediately made for further advancement. Just a note here in
passing: Do not attempt to gage your own experience by the reported
experiences of men whose lives have been written, such as Bramwell,
Carvosso, Fletcher, etc. Why? Simply because the biographer has
often omitted the struggles and losses and inserted the victories
and good things. They want to make a hero of their favorite. God
only knows the struggles of soul through which these great men went
before they gained the victories which are recorded. Are you, too,
willing to struggle? Then you can be great -- in God's sight, if not
in man's.
4. Causes of discouragement from without. This would include all
such things as financial loss or want, persecution, vile
accusations, the character of our associates, and hundreds of things
which we cannot understand and which persist in crowding themselves
into our everyday life.
Just one: financial want. Some may laugh at the man who groans under
financial pressure; perhaps such persons have felt such pressures,
perhaps they have not. Wesley says, "O want of bread! want of bread;
who can tell what this means, unless he hath felt it himself? I am
astonished it occasions no more heaviness even in them that
believe!" May we add that it is comparatively easy to endure such
things one's self, but when your children are in want, and your
companion is fading because of a lack of proper nourishment, then
the heart will surely groan. That minister of the gospel, or layman
either, is made of martyr stuff who can steadily pursue his way in
the path of duty when others are plentifully supplied and his own
are suffering from absolute necessities. Is he sinning when he looks
at his strong right arm, and feels the pull towards secular labor
which would supply all his needs? But some one says, "If a man does
God's will God will always supply all his needs." Such talk as that
is an easy way out for the man who will not give of his cash to help
support the gospel. It puts all the responsibility on the servant
and lets the one who should give, and does not, go scot-free. There
are two sides to the question.
The writer in one place, after a trip around the circuit, drove his
faithful horse into the barn for the night. There was not a fork of
hay or a quart of grain to give him, and while Duke looked over
toward the manger and pawed the floor, we looked into his big,
kindly eyes and wept. "Old faithful fellow, you can have nothing
tonight." But why should this poor beast go hungry? Let us not
attempt to locate the blame, for that is not our question. The
matter in hand is the depression which we naturally felt. If we did
not yield to a complaining or fault-finding spirit, our tears were
but the result of natural pity and did not show a corrupt heart.
5. Some of God's most successful ministers are most beset with
discouragement because they feel their labors are producing so
little results. It is said that at one time Bishop Asbury had fully
made up his mind that his work was a failure and that he would quit.
In this frame of mind he slipped into a meeting, taking a seat
unobserved near the door. During the testimony meeting a sister
arose and stated that she owed her salvation to Bishop Asbury,
giving time and particulars. When she was seated, the bishop arose,
told of his temptation and decision, but declared that if he had
been instrumental in the salvation of one soul he would continue to
preach the gospel. Just such facts are the only things that keep
some of the rest of us going. Are our hearts unclean because we are
thus depressed? Not necessarily.
Some of the best of God's people have almost been driven to despair
in their very dying moments. A notable example of this is found in
the annals of early Methodism. Thomas Walsh, a Methodist minister,
was so holy and devoted that even Wesley stood in awe of him, but
his biographer says that in his dying hour this great soul lay thus,
as it were, in ruins for some considerable time, and poured out many
a heavy groan and speechless tear from an oppressed heart and dying
body. He sadly bewailed the absence of Him whose wanted presence had
so often given him the victory over the manifold contradictions and
troubles which he endured for His name's sake." The characters of
neither good nor bad men can be surely inferred from their dying
words, -- it is the life that tells.
The discouragement which blasts the soul: When I yield, in the midst
of the pressures, to a distrustful spirit, when I become despondent
concerning God's power, or willingness to help me; when I cease to
rejoice in God in the midst of my sorrows, or to trust God in my
pains; when I am persecuted and forsaken, cast down and destroyed;
then, and only then, is my spiritual strength stolen away, and I am
become as other men.
But any approach towards this point is, in that degree, detrimental
to grace and a hindrance to success. No man can be his whole bigness
for God when he is looking sadly at his weaknesses, or despondently
viewing his temptations. The Word of God says, "In due season ye
shall reap, if we faint not."
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