Facing the Giant of Discouragement
Nehemiah 4
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In this lesson we learn what can bring on discouragement and how to defend ourselves against it.
OVERVIEW
In this lesson we encounter another of the spiritual giants whose shadow falls across the landscape of the church—the giant of discouragement. Because the Bible is filled with stories about real people facing real challenges—people like you and me—we encounter discouragement in Scripture. Thankfully, God allowed the writing down of stories that we can relate to right where we live. Stories like Nehemiah’s give us hope that, while discouragement may come our way, we do not have to live with it. We can learn to overcome the giant of discouragement.
Here’s the setting for what the Bible tells us of the life of Nehemiah: Seventy years before we meet him, Israel had been conquered by Babylon and taken into captivity. Then Babylon was conquered by Persia. The Persian king, Cyrus, gave the Jewish captives permission to return to their homeland and rebuild it. First to return was Zerubbabel who led a group to begin rebuilding the temple. Next came a priest by the name of Ezra and an administrator named Nehemiah.
As a priest, Ezra set about to build up the hearts of the returned captives, while Nehemiah focused on rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls. By the time we get to Nehemiah, chapter four, we find Nehemiah has organized the people into efficient crews of laborers who are hard at work on the walls. They were about halfway finished rebuilding the walls when opposition to the project surfaced (Nehemiah 4:6). Two leaders in particular, Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite (people who had exercised some control in the land in the Israelites’ absence) rose up against Nehemiah and his project. They did everything in their power to discourage Nehemiah, to cause him to abandon his task. They didn’t want the Israelites to be reestablished in the land and regain their former power and glory.
Anytime you’re halfway through a project you are a prime candidate for discouragement. You’re tired from what you’ve done and wondering if the end is actually attainable. When the people began to hear Tobiah’s and Sanballat’s words and warnings directed toward Nehemiah, they began to grow discouraged as well. What was Nehemiah to do? How did he defeat discouragement in his own life and keep hundreds and hundreds of his fellow Israelites from throwing up their hands in despair as well?
The lessons we will learn from the life of Nehemiah will keep us from giving in to the giant of discouragement. By the end of this lesson, you’ll have learned from Nehemiah how to guard your own heart and mind. You’ll have learned how to stay encouraged.
Recognizing Discouragement
Recognizing what makes us vulnerable to discouragement is the best way to keep it at a distance.
Discouragement Factor Number One: Fatigue
In verse 10 of Nehemiah, chapter four, we learn that the “strength of the laborers [was] failing.” Because we know the wall was finished in 52 days (Nehemiah 6:15), they must have been working non-stop for nearly a month when the opposition surfaced. Twenty-five or 30 days of hard work with little rest would have left the entire work force fatigued.
Someone has said that fatigue makes cowards of us all. I’ve seen it happen to me—perhaps you have as well. We are absolutely more vulnerable to discouragement when we are tired. I have had to acknowledge as I have gotten older that I simply can’t push myself as hard as I once could. And when I try to, I quickly become unproductive. I’ve recognized that my basic personality type—do more, accomplish more—is probably not going to change at this point. But what I have learned to change is the way I work. When I’m working, I still work hard as we all should. But I’ve learned to take time to rest and recuperate. Instead of those breaks keeping me from accomplishing work, they actually enable me to do more in the long run. It’s a matter of living life like a marathon instead of a sprint. As a result, I find I keep the giant of discouragement from interfering with accomplishing my goals.
Discouragement Factor Number Two: Frustration
Not only was the strength of the workers failing, but there was so much rubbish in the way from the prior wall’s destruction that they could hardly work (verse 10).
You can imagine the scene—huge piles of stone blocks piled everywhere from when the Babylonians had knocked down the walls to capture the city. Sometimes laying the foundation for a project can be the most frustrating part. While it’s perhaps the most important part, it’s not nearly as much fun to clear the site and get ready to build as it is to see the walls rising. Moving the mountains of debris could easily have produced mountains of frustration.
There are three ways to live life: live out, wear out, or burn out. While I hope to live out, as you probably do too, some people think burning out is more spiritual. But it is not. People get burned out because they work hard without focus, purpose, or accomplishment. I know people who work incredibly hard all the time, but they never burn out because they are reaching their goals and living with a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Burning out comes from trying to accomplish something that is unattainable or at least appears that way from where you stand. Trying to build a wall on top of piles of rubble could easily lead to burnout.
Burnout could be synonymous with frustration, and frustration is an early warning sign for the onset of discouragement. It’s easy for people who are tired and frustrated to conclude they are going to fail.
Discouragement Factor Number Three: Failure
Finally in verse 10 we see the potential for failure that had set in: “We are not able to build the wall.” It’s easy to see why they would think they might fail, being exhausted and hemmed in by rubble on every side when they were just halfway done. You can imagine the workers beginning to talk among themselves as they worked, fueling the fires of failure with their discouraging and frustrating words.
Failure itself is a giant which all of us face at some point in our lives (we will devote an entire lesson to failure in our study). We have to remember that, in a fallen world, failure is part of life. Failing is not the issue, but what we do when we fail is. How we respond to failure, as well as how we respond to exhaustion and frustration, is what makes the difference regarding discouragement.
If, when we fail, we allow the final stepping stone to discouragement—fear—to be laid, we have made a way for this giant to walk right in.
Discouragement Factor Number Four: Fear
In verses 11 and 12 those working on the walls get word of their adversaries’ plans: They mean to put the Jews to death. Those who opposed the rebuilding of the walls were coming in among the Israelites and whispering in their ears, “We’re going to get you.”
We shouldn’t be surprised at that sort of tactic resulting in fear. Relentless criticism from one’s enemies can begin to take its toll over time. Occasionally I receive a critical letter from someone who has heard me speak or read something I’ve written. It seems that those letters always arrive at the most inopportune time. You may be struggling already and you open the mail and discover someone is out to get you (not literally, but with words). And you start believing the criticism, wondering if you ought even to continue the work you’re trying to accomplish. Criticism (threats in Nehemiah’s case) can lead to fear, and fear can definitely lead to discouragement.
So … how do we respond when we are tired, frustrated, on the verge of failure, and fearful about the future? How do we keep from getting stuck in the slough of discouragement?
Responding to Discouragement
Let’s follow the order of events in Nehemiah, chapter four, to see how Nehemiah handled the pending possibility of serious discouragement.
Cry Out to God
The first thing he did, which is often the last thing we do, was cry out to God (verses 4, 9). How often we find ourselves saying, “We’ve nothing left to do but pray.” Instead of ending up praying, we ought to begin by praying.
The first place to begin when discouragement sets in is prayer, to ask God to intervene in the issues at hand. Often, when I am on the verge of discouragement, I will sit down at my computer or with my journal and write out my thoughts to the Lord as a prayer. Writing out my concerns helps me identify and crystallize the issues, helps me to focus and prioritize what has become a swirl of conflicting thoughts and feelings. But in the process of writing I am also crying out to the Lord. That is always the place to begin.
Next, I turn to the Psalms of the Old Testament and encourage you to do so as well. We can think of the Psalms as the journal entries of David and the other psalmists. We get to peek into their journals and read their most intimate thoughts when they were going through times of discouragement. They become our mentors, our teachers, in learning how to cry out to God when we are discouraged.
Continue the Work God Has Given You to Do
Next, in verse six, we find that they kept working in spite of the looming opposition. It is so easy to throw in the towel when we get discouraged. We want to rid ourselves of what we think is causing the frustration and discouragement. Ironically, by giving up we separate ourselves from the one thing that can help us overcome discouragement: achieving what we set out to do. When discouraging and accusing words came against Nehemiah, he continued doing exactly what he was doing before the attacks started! He didn’t let the opposition keep him from accomplishing what he set out to do.
On one occasion Nehemiah’s enemies tried to entice Nehemiah to come down off the wall and meet with them in a conference. I love Nehemiah’s response. He replied to his enemies that he wasn’t about to leave the great work he was doing and waste time meeting with them (Nehemiah 6:3)! What was he saying? He was sending a message of commitment and determination to finish what He knew God had called him to do.
The longer I live the more I realize that when I feel least like doing something, that is the time I most need to do it. Whether it’s praying, exercising, resting, reading the Bible—whatever it is, there will always be times when we won’t feel encouraged about the prospects of that activity being beneficial. But it will be. And we need to do it most at the time we feel least like doing it.
Concentrate On the Big Picture
In verses 13 and 14, Nehemiah rallies the workers to continue their work in light of a bigger picture. They weren’t just stacking blocks, nor were they just building a little section of a wall. Rather, they were building a huge wall that would enclose the city of Jerusalem and protect themselves and their families from those seeking to do them harm.
Sometimes, working in our little corner of the kingdom, it’s easy to get discouraged. We wonder if what we’re doing is making any difference or whether it’s worth the trouble to continue on. Nehemiah’s workers were in danger of isolation, not being able to see around the pile of rubble between them and the next group of workers further down the line. So Nehemiah positioned the workers so they could see better, could keep in touch with one another, and remain encouraged in their work. Discouragement often comes when we lose sight of the big picture. We need to stay connected to a larger community of faith so we don’t lose heart.
Leith Anderson, in his book Leadership that Works (Bethany Publishing House, 1999) helps Christian leaders in the same way. He cites page after page of highly encouraging facts and statistics about the progress of the gospel around the world—and in America. Many people don’t realize that more people attend church in America each week than attend major sporting events in a year in our country. They also don’t realize that there are nearly twice as many people in their twenties in church each Sunday than in their seventies. We’ve been led to believe that the church isn’t making an impact when it really is. It encourages us to stay focused on the big picture.
Claim the Encouragement of God’s Promises
In verse 14 Nehemiah challenges the people to “… not be afraid of [their enemies]. Remember the Lord, great and awesome.… ” The promises of God are the bedrock of our faith. When we are toying with discouragement and entertaining things in our mind that are not true, we need nothing more than the truth from God. And His Word is where we go to find it. Take your Bible out, plant yourself in a chair, and start reading—out loud if necessary. Sometimes I will purpose before God to keep reading His Word until He comes and speaks to my heart in a way that helps me see through my discouragement. And He always does.
The Word of God tells us not to get discouraged in the midst of the good we are doing (Galatians 6:9). Taking admonition like that to heart consistently is a powerful antidote to discouragement in life and ministry.
Carry Somebody Else’s Burden
Finally, in verses 16–23 we find something very interesting taking place: people helping people. Some people were carrying, some were guarding, some were building—and all with swords strapped on. They even stayed up all night to continue the work (verses 22–23). What happens in that kind of environment? Teamwork, camaraderie, and community develop when we work together. The sharing of tasks keeps us dependent on one another. It’s easier to do your part of a task than to try to do the whole thing by yourself. It’s also much easier for synergy to create something “bigger than the sum of its parts” when everyone works together.
Many have been the times when I have been lifted out of discouragement by getting involved in helping someone else. When I focus on others I stop focusing on myself; and I discover in the process that others relieve their discouragement by reaching out to me. We reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7), and sowing encouragement into others’ lives means we will reap it ourselves in time.
We live in potentially discouraging days. But arresting discouragement before it ever gets on the property of our heart and mind will keep it from taking over and stopping the work God is doing in and through us.
APPLICATION
1. Read 2 Corinthians 4:1–18.
a. Humanly speaking, it would have been easy for the apostle Paul to grow discouraged in his ministry. What does he cite as being his fundamental reason for not losing heart? (verse 1)
b. Mercy means being spared from what we deserve. Why would the receipt of mercy be a source of encouragement?
c. What was the task Paul stayed focused on in his life? (verse 2)
d. How did he reconcile “failures” in his preaching ministry? (verses 3–4)
e. How did he separate himself personally from the task
f. God had given him? (verse 5)
g. Explain how the following phrase could be a source of encouragement for the Christian: “I obey my calling and leave the results to God.”
h. How did Paul know he was involved in something worth remaining committed to? (verse 6)
i. How can our human tendency to grow discouraged ultimately serve to glorify God? (verse 7)
j. Fill in the following responses Paul had to his daily experiences: (verses 8–9)
(1) Hard pressed but not …
(2) Perplexed but not …
(3) Persecuted but not …
(4) Struck down but not …
k. Why did Paul never lose heart (grow discouraged) in ministry? (verse 16–17)
l. What did he stay focused on? (verse 18)
2. Read 2 Corinthians 5:1–10.
a. How did Paul express the reality of living life in a fallen world? (verses 1–4)
b. How did faith play a role in Paul avoiding discouragement? (verse 7)
c. How would discouragement have affected his life goal? (verse 9)
d. What future event constantly served as a reminder to Paul of his responsibility to stay encouraged and pursuing the call of God on his life? (verse 10)
3. How is it possible to get discouraged even when we are doing good?
a. What admonition does Paul give to those who are at work doing good things? (Galatians 6:9; II Thessalonians 3:13)
b. What good work do you consistently in which you find yourself tempted to discouragement?
c. List the reasons why you are tempted to grow discouraged in the midst of that good work and the truth from God’s Word that can keep you encouraged:
| Temptation | Truth |
d. What is the ultimate reason for continuing to sow seeds of encouragement into your life as well as into the lives of others? (Galatians 6:7)
DID YOU KNOW?
To encourage means to impart courage, as in a blood transfusion. When you encourage someone you give them a transfusion of courage. But what does it mean to encourage oneself? In that case, think of the actions of a farmer who burns his field in order to remove the stubble and encourage new growth. Or the gardener who prunes a plant to encourage the multiplication of fruit. Sometimes self-encouragement means being ruthless with the fears, failures, frustration, and fatigue which can discourage us. We may have to give ourselves a transfusion of courage by cleansing ourselves of whatever is standing in the way of encouragement. If no one comes along to encourage you, encourage yourself. That’s what David did—”Why are you cast down, O my soul? … Hope in God .… ” (Psalm 42:11).
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