“Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give in”. (Galatians 6:9 AMP)
I started this year with fresh vision from God for my life. Because I’m wired to be a ‘doer’, I’m used to moving immediately when I receive my Divine marching orders. After being in an extended season of resting and healing, I was ready to be productive again. I was also ready to know what my ‘next’ is so that I can focus my attention on something purposeful. I’ve been praying and asking God: “what can I get started on?”, “what do You want me to work on?”. It’s hard for me to not do anything. Although nothing is not entirely what I’ve been doing.
During my season of resting and healing, that’s just what I was doing. God brought me through a very difficult period of my life, and in His lovingkindness He gave me a “time out” from life. He allowed me to enjoy not having to wake up with the glaring sound of an alarm. I’ve been able to sleep as long as I want. I’ve been able to spend hours of quiet time, being alone with my thoughts. I’ve been able to spend more time in my daily devotionals with Him without having to cut it short because I had to rush to work. I’ve also been receiving deep healing in my soul from past traumatic and painful events. This season has truly been a gift. What a blessing it is to literally be living in answered prayer.
Now, I believe God has shifted me into a new season, and my mandate has been to “build”. I’ve been working hard on updating my social media platforms and being diligent with creating more content (which can be a challenge for me). As much as I enjoy writing and making videos, sometimes I don’t know what to say. I always depend on the Holy Spirit to guide me so that I’m sharing what I believe is on God’s heart for us.
It wasn’t long into my building process that I started feeling discouraged and like I’m running out of steam. Negative thoughts have been filling my mind. The voice of my insecurities has been ringing loud, telling me I’m not good enough, not smart enough, not talented enough. Many times I’ve been tempted to stop, delete all of my content, and just settle for doing something that won’t require me to be stretched or taken outside of my comfort zone.
What do you do when you start to feel discouraged?
What do you do when you’re battling negative and limiting thoughts?
I’ve learned these 6 tips to help me fight through and overcome discouragement:
- Feel your feelings. Acknowledging and validating your feelings first are important. At this stage of the process, it’s critical that you do not judge your feelings. Don’t gaslight yourself. You’re having these feelings for a reason. It’s giving you information that something needs to be addressed in your thought life.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the origin of your feelings. Once you’ve allowed yourself time and space to acknowledge what you’re feeling, it’s time to do some soul work and ask yourself questions. This is the part where you roll up your sleeves and do some heavy lifting. Helpful questions that I’ve asked myself are: (a) Where did the thoughts come from? (b) Did it come from something someone said to you? (c) Are you comparing yourself to someone else’s journey? (d) Is it a trauma response to something that happened before? (e) What were you doing or who were you with when that thought came?
- Recognize the plan of the enemy. Scripture says in 1 Peter 5:8 that our adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. We must remember that our enemy does not want us to prosper. He does not want us to fulfill our God-given destiny. So he will try everything he can in his bag of tricks including self-sabotage or other people to discourage us and keep us from moving forward.
- Reject the enemy’s lies. We don’t have to allow the negative and limiting thoughts to take up real estate in our mind. We can reject them in Jesus’ name. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says we can take every thought captive to obey Christ. Which leads me to the next important point.
- Replace the enemy’s lies with God’s truth. You can’t just reject the lies and not replace them with truth. This is what leads to mind renewal as mentioned in Romans 12:2. It’s also why it’s so important that you read the Bible and learn not only who God is, but who He says you are. When you begin to understand your identity in God, you begin to reject any false thought that the enemy throws at you. Thoughts can turn into beliefs which can be more challenging to dismantle, but it can still be done. It is better to nip things in the bud and address the thoughts before they become something deeper.
- Reach out to your community for support. Ask your family and friends to help you during this process. They can offer loving words of affirmation and encouragement that will strengthen and uplift you. My podcast called ‘The Power of Your Life’ will also fill you up spiritually. Click here to listen to an episode that I believe will help you.
For me, I realized my discouragement came mostly from comparing myself to other people I follow on social media who are also doing what I’m doing. I started feeling like an imposter who has nothing of value to offer anyone, which I know is not true! So I’ve been rejecting the enemy’s lies and replacing it with God’s truth: that I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14), that God loves me, that I too am gifted, and that He has a purpose and plan for my life…and part of that is to be a blessing to you with encouraging content that will uplift you!
I also reached out to my community for support. I asked the women in my small group at church to pray for me. I asked my family for encouragement. They know my journey and helped me to see the amazing accomplishments I’ve already achieved. They know I like to celebrate every win in my life and in other’s no matter the size, and they brought me back to focusing on what’s really important.
When the thoughts of discouragement come and tempt you to give up, remember these 6 tips that can help you overcome them. And remember that God is always with you and will walk with you through this moment. His promise is that you will reap a harvest if you do not quit.
Lord, thank You for always being with us. You promised to never leave or abandon us. In the moments where we are weary, discouraged, and tempted to quit, Lord strengthen our hearts and minds. Give us Your peace and guide us along the path You have created for us. We give You praise and thanksgiving. Amen
