The Drip... Drip... Drip... of Discouragement (Satan's 3 Tactics)

Welcome back my beautiful readers,

my faithful readers,

my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I say 'brothers and sisters in Christ' because the following information will be best understood by you, Jehovah's Witnesses, but it by no means that all can not read and benefit from it, that's why I put it out there. For me, this is a talk of encouragement, and don't we need all the encouragement we can get?

Allow me to set the scene. You are sitting inside a Kingdom Hall, in the auditorium, and the speaker, the Traveling Overseer (a person like that of the Apostle Paul in the 1^st century) is giving his 2^nd public discourse, after the abbreviated Watchtower lesson. You are among your fellow brothers and sisters. Perhaps some have been accompanied by their Bible Students, and perhaps, some people are new to the area and this is the first time they have set foot inside a Kingdom Hall. Never the less, we are all there because we enjoy the warm association, we want to learn, and, we want to be comforted. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Let us begin...

It originated in the 16^th century as a subtle and yet extremely effective form of torture. Victims were commonly strapped to a table and then water was slowly dropped, drip...by drip...by drip... onto their foreheads. Victims of this form of torture commonly over time eventually lost their courage, their power, even their will to keep living.

Interestingly, this form of torture was invented by a medical doctor, a man who happened to observe that in nature, little drops of water has tremendous power. Those little drops of water could wear down and erode even the strongest of rocks, stones, even boulders. Thus, this doctor concluded, sadistically so, that over time, even the strongest of humans could also be worn down drip...by drip...by drip...

Let me ask you, brothers and sisters, do you think you could hold up under that type of torture? Could you maintain your strength, your courage, your determination to keep living, under such distress? The sad reality is whether we recognize it or not, brothers and sisters, we today are living under such torturous circumstances. As Satan the devil, much like that doctor we described, Satan has come to recognize the power of little drops of water commonly known today as, DISCOURAGEMENT. Satan the devil knows that no human, no matter who we are, how old we are, how long we've been in the truth, no human on their own power has the ability to withhold and withstand the torturous little drops of discouragement that he so commonly uses today, and here is why.

Turn in your Bibles, please, to Proverbs 24. We'll briefly examine the principle of Scripture that Satan the devil knows better than we do. Proverbs 24 and notice verse 10, it says...

 10  If you become discouraged in the day of distress,*

Your strength will be meager.. 

According to this, what type of an impact on are those little drops of discouragement having on us? They will erode our strength, our power, and over time, eventually even our determination to continue to serve Jehovah God, even to continue to live. In fact, it's interesting, that expression used in this verse 'show yourself discouraged' in Hebrew, it carries the idea of weakening, enfeebling, or even paralyzing. And that's why Satan the devil will often times wait till we're facing some test, some challenge, some issue in our life; he'll wit for our personal 'day of distress', and then he'll attack, drip... by drip... by drip...

Now please, don't misunderstand, Satan doesn't always cause the challenge, the test, the distress, but he certainly will use those things to his advantage, as Satan is a very sly opportunist, who often times waits till we're visited with a challenge in our life, and then he will attack, drip...by drip...by drip... That's why this morning we thought it might be advantageous for us to examine some of the potential causes of discouragement that Satan will take advantage of, causes of discouragement in the lives of Christians today, and more importantly, how we can overcome them.

Here is the FIRST cause of discouragement we may face, and that's the lack of response in the field as we preach. Undoubtedly you are aware as you're preaching today that the vast majority of those that we're attempting to converse with, for the most part, we will meet those who are apathetic, indifferent, generally uninterested in the message that we bring, and thus, house after house, drip... after drip... Satan the devil would love to use these negative experiences to wear down and erode our faith and even our zeal for preaching. How can we make sure that that strategy of Satan doesn't work on us? Well you know, the key lies in often times trying to determine the real reason why people don't respond in the field. Now you notice that we said 'the real reason'? We stress that because Satan the devil would just love to convince you that the reason why people are not responding is because of you. 'Your presentations aren't good enough, you don't know enough Scriptures, aren't skilled enough at the doors'; in others words, the reason why people aren't responding to the message is because your the messenger; but is that really the case?

The Kingdom Ministry of 12/03 page 8 said this, and I quote “each person has a disposition that is rooted in his figurative heart. The Bible speaks of one whose heart is disposed to fight, some are disposed to rage, but there are also those who are rightly disposed for everlasting life.” Now what does that mean? Well, let's say you're out in service, you knock on the door, the householder comes out; what type of heart do they have? Well, you don't know, do you? So what do we do? You'll do your very best. You'll smile a big smile, you'll tell them how glad you are to find them at home, you'll tell them that you have good news to share with them, and perhaps they will say “na, I'm NOT interested” and slam the door in your face. 

• Was that your failure? 
• Smile wasn't big enough? 
• Didn't say 'good news' loud enough?

Was that your failure, or was that the householders failure? See, that householder had a heart that was disposed to fight, a heart that was disposed to rage, a heart that at that particular moment in time, was disposed to apathy or indifference. Any way you spin it, that's not your failure. You see, it is good for us to remember we can't change the people we meet in the field and we cannot allow those people to change us. We can't allow their apathy to become our apathy, and thus, the best thing we can do is simply try to understand what might be causing the apathy.

For example, that person that said “na, I'm NOT interested” and slammed the door on us, why might they have reacted that way? Well could it be that they're fed up with the hypocrisy in religion? They look out their peep hole and that's all they see in us is religion. Would that be the cause? Could be. Could it be that they're hopeless? They look at world conditions and look at conditions in their own life and have kind of given up intellectually and emotionally? Could that be the cause of the reaction? Perhaps. Could it be that they burnt the toast just prior to your knocking and you just caught him at the wrong time? Could be. See, we can't change the people we meet in the field, but perhaps we can try to understand them, and maybe by doing so we can break through that shell of indifference. But you know, even if that never happens, even if not a single person in the field accepts our message, do we have a reason to feel discouraged? After all, ever time we preach, we are proving our love for Jehovah God because we're being obedient. Every time we preach, we free ourselves of blood guilt and thus every time we preach, we're successful. And thus, wouldn't it be better to focus on the positives that our ministry accomplishes and not the negatives? Thus, never allow the apathetic drippings of those in the community to cause you to become apathetic or discouraged.

A SECOND area that could cause discouragement in Jehovah's people are health issues and physical limitations. One dear sister in her 80's who was unable to do what she used to do in Jehovah's service, she said this, “what I do now for Jehovah doesn't amount to anything. I just hope that Jehovah can see it in his heart to forgive me for my meager share in his service.” Now you know, if you were listening closely, perhaps you could hear the drip...drip...drip... of discouragement. Are you perhaps feeling like this sister, concluding that because of your health issues, advancing age, limitations, that what you give to Jehovah doesn't amount to anything? If you are feeling that way, please allow me to remind you, that is exactly how Satan the devil wants you to feel. He wants you to believe that Jehovah God views your service as useless and worthless because of the amount that your dropping into the service. But... is that really the case? Or is that satanic ideology that is designed to malign Jehovah God? Making him appear unloving, merciless, unkind?

See, think about it this way. How would you view an employer who fires a long time faithful, loyal, employee, because he's getting older and slowing down? How would you view a husband who separates from his wife because she's in an accident and is not longer able to function like she used to? See, how would you view men like this? We'd have to conclude: men like that are heartless, they're merciless, they're unloving. But isn't that exactly how Satan wants you to view Jehovah? As the type of god that throws away the sick and the elderly because they just aren't producing? Friends, That's a satanic LIE. That the truth of the matter is, we are not serving a God who equates our value as a person by how much we do in the ministry. It doesn't work that way!

In fact, the Watchtower of 1995 12/1, page 12 said this “remember that in God's eyes, you are worth as a person is not measured by how much you do in the field ministry. What you're doing in the preaching work may be more or less that what others do, but as long as is represents your best, Jehovah is pleased and there is no need for you to feel guilty.” Now this Watchtower reminds us of a significant truth; that Jehovah God does not care about 'what we do', Jehovah cares about 'what we CAN do'. And thus, if what we 'can do' is 70 hours, great! On the other hand, if what we 'can do' is 15 minutes a month in service, great! As long as it's our best, Jehovah's pleased to accept it. In fact, the reality is, scripturally speaking, there is evidence to conclude that Jehovah may actually be more pleased with the 15 minutes a month then the 70. How do we draw that conclusion?

Well do you happen to remember the account of Luke 21? The world refers to it as the Widow's mite. You remember the story; needy widow in the temple, approaches the contribution box, and what does she drop in to it? Just 2 little coins of insignificant value. And yet what does Jesus say about what she dropped in? That she gave MORE than the rich who had dropped in before her. Why more? Because Jesus was aware of circumstances. He knew how difficult it was for this widow to drop in what she dropped in and thus, because of her circumstances, Jesus valued THAT sacrifice more that the bigger sacrifices. What's the principal? That while it is true Jehovah values ALL of the sacrifices given by his people out of a heart full of love, he clearly values highly, the little sacrifices dropped in by the sick and the elderly. The reality is because of the effort it takes, Jehovah perhaps values those little sacrifices more than sacrifices given by the able-bodied. That is the type of God that we serve. Please, never allow the dishonest drippings of Satan to convince you otherwise.

The THIRD cause of discouragement today are feelings of guilt because of past sins and personal weaknesses. Now, dwelling on sins of the past, personal weaknesses, can become, if you're not careful, a form of ruthless torture. In fact, that was what was happening to one of our brothers some years ago. He said this “even though I've been in the truth for many years and have been faithfully serving as an elder and a pioneer, I find myself unable to let go of past sins and mistakes. These issues of the past have caused me to fight feelings of self loathing and inadequacy. At times, these feelings of guilt and shame become almost overwhelming.” 

Now sadly, this brother's feelings are not an anomaly. Many today feel this way, and interestingly, many in Bible times felt that way! For example, turn to Psalm 40 please, and we'll notice the expressions of David, who, by the way, the scriptures make clear that David was a man agreeable to Jehovah's heart and one of Jehovah's favorite earthly sons, and yet notice how David felt about himself. Psalm 40, verse 12, David says 

12  The calamities surrounding me are too many to count.+So many of my errors overwhelm me that I cannot see my way;+They are more numerous than the hairs of my head,And I have lost heart.

Can you see why Satan the devil would just love for Jehovah's people to dwell on feelings of guilt because of past mistakes? Thus, if problems in the past continue to plague you, be very careful about dwelling on those things. Dwelling on past mistakes that have already been handled is a little silly, it's a lot needless, and can become very dangerous for us if we're not careful.

For example, when driving your automobile, do you ever take a quick look in the rear-view mirror? Do you ever do that? Sure you do. A quick glance in the rear-view mirror allows you to see what's behind you, where you've come from, and there's wisdom in that. But let me ask you, would you ever dream of driving your car by solely looking in the rear-view mirror? You would never do that, would you? Why? Because that's needless and would become very dangerous. So today, if feelings come up in the heart that remind you of the past, its OK to take a quick glance in the rear-view mirror, remind yourself of where you've been, how far you've come, but then, the encouragement we would give you: get your eyes back on the roadway. See, Jehovah God did not intend, and he has never advised, his people to drive through life looking in the rear-view mirror. Instead, he has encouraged us to look ahead towards perfection, towards our beautiful hope. Thus, don't drive through life looking in the rear-view mirror. Remember, Jehovah hasn't asked us to do it. That's not his desire.

So who's desire would that be? Who wins if we keep looking behind us? Satan does. That's his ploy designed to demoralize and destroy. And thus, if feelings of guilt continue to remain in your heart, then perhaps it would be good to remind your heart of something that Jehovah said. Turn in your Bibles to 1 John, chapter 3, and it will remind us of how our God feels about us, even about us as sinful people. 1 John, chapter 3, and notice verse 19-20. It says:

19  By this we will know that we originate with the truth, and we will assure* our hearts before him 20  regarding whatever our hearts may condemn us in, because God is greater than our hearts and knows all things.+ 

So brothers and sisters, if your self condemning heart continues to beat us, continues to remind us of what we've done wrong in the past, you think it might be good to ensure that heart of what's stated in verse 20? Namely, God is greater than the heart.

How is Jehovah greater than the heart? Well, Jehovah's greater in love, is greater in mercy, he's greater in compassion and understanding than our own heart is towards us. Now, Jehovah can be that way because as John said, Jehovah “knows all things”. Now, what does that mean? Well, it means that Jehovah is aware of where we've goofed up and make mistakes, sure, but more importantly it means that Jehovah's aware of every time we haven't goofed up or made mistakes. Jehovah knows ever time we've been tempted to sin, but we fought against it. Jehovah is aware of all of our little victories. Jehovah's aware of both the bad and the good found in us, and because Jehovah has that view point, it give him a much more balance way of looking at his children.

Maybe we'd illustrate that this way. Some years ago, a Christian father was having some difficulties with one of his teenage sons. He's going through a little rebellious period, as sometimes our young ones do. So a well-intentioned friend approached the father and said “Listen, if that was my boy, I'd kick him out.” Now the father thought about that advice momentarily, then he said to his friend “you know, I would also kick him out if that was your son, but it's not your don, it's my son.” Now, what did that father see in his son that the stranger didn't? All the good, not just the bad, but the good. And that's how Jehovah is able to look at us, not dwelling on all of the mistakes and the bad, but the good found in our hearts. And thus Jehovah is speaking to us today by reminding us that dwelling on our own imperfections is something that he does not do, and he does not encourage us to do, as that will lead ultimately just to discouragement.

Speaking of discouragement and parents and children, arguably one of the most discouraging, depressing, even debilitating thing that a Christian parent will ever have to face, is the loss of a child spiritually. Now sadly, that is the reality for many parents in our organization. They have raised those children from infancy to love Jehovah, to fear Jehovah, only to watch in horror as the children reach adulthood and then they leave Jehovah, becoming either inactive or maybe even dis-fellowshipped. Over the years, I've sat in the homes of many parents in that very circumstance of life, I have heard their expressions, their sadness, but more than anything, their guilt, because generally speaking, good parents tend to blame themselves when their children leave Jehovah.

Now if we have perhaps described you, please take heart. Take heart in knowing that many in our organization feel the same feelings that you're feeling, but take special comfort in knowing that Jehovah feels the feelings that you're feeling. Now how can we say that? Turn in your Bibles please, to Deuteronomy 32, and here in Deuteronomy 32, the Bible is discussing very candidly, Jehovah's children, specifically, Jehovah's children that made up the nation of Israel. However, this is really a reference to all of Jehovah's children, including even Adam and Ever. So Deuteronomy 32, notice how Jehovah's children are described in verse 5, it says:

5  They are the ones who have acted corruptly.+They are not his children, the defect is their own.+They are a crooked and twisted generation!+

Now parents, does Jehovah understand your feelings? He does! Why? Well, because Jehovah has lost children of his own.  

• Jehovah lost the spirit children in the heavens, 
• Jehovah lost his first two human children in Adam and Eve, 
• Jehovah lost the nation of Israel, and
• Jehovah, to this day, continues to lose children, spiritually. 

And yet Jehovah loses his children despite being what type of parent? What type of Father? Well look back to verse 4 

4  The Rock, perfect is his activity,+For all his ways are justice.+A God of faithfulness+ who is never unjust;+Righteous and upright is he.+

So Jehovah, despite being a perfect father, looses children.

The Watchtower of 1988, May 1^st, page 3 asked this question: "What is a successful parent?" Notice the answer: “a successful parent is one who raises his child in such a way that the child has every opportunity to grow into a responsible adult who will continue to actively worship God and demonstrates love for fellow man.” So parents, if you really meditate on how you raised your children, although not perfectly, did you give your children an opportunity to know Jehovah? Did you give them an opportunity to learn the truth? An opportunity to love his organization? Well then, take heart and feel good about your work as a parent. See, to take comfort in knowing that Jehovah God knows how difficult it is to raise a child in this wicked world. Take heart in knowing that that child that you loved and lost Jehovah God also loves. After all, your child is also Jehovah's child. And ultimately, take comfort in knowing that if there is any semblance of good in the heart of your child, even if your child is presently in a spiritually dead state, isn't Jehovah aware of the good in their heart? See, if Jehovah God can raise a physically dead child, can't he also raise spiritually dead children who have good in their heart? And thus, parents, don't show yourself discouraged. When your child returns to Jehovah God, don't you want to be there to help them return? Don't show yourself discouraged in this day of distress. Don't allow yourself to be conquered by this wicked scheme. Now is our opportunity to conquer this wicked ploy of Satin the devil. The question is, how do we do it?

Turn in your Bibles to Romans Chapter 12, and let's see if we can answer that question together. Romans 12:21, and notice the Apostle Paul's spirit directed counsel at verse 21. Romans 12:21, Paul says:

21  Do not let yourself be conquered by the evil, but keep conquering the evil with the good.+

So according to this, how do we conquer Satan's evil schemes, including this most evil scheme of discouragement? How do we do it? By doing good. By actively looking for ways to pursue what is good in life. Like what? How about like:

• Reading the Bible every day. Allowing the comforting thoughts to sooth our troubled soul, even when feeling discouraged.
• Bile study is good. 
• Regular meeting attendance is also good even, when we're feeling depressed and discouraged. And thus at times, brothers and sisters, we will have to get tough with ourselves, because often when we're feeling depressed and discouraged, the very last place we want to be is the very place that we have to be, namely, our congregation. Thus, by forcing ourselves out of our beds and out of our homes and into Jehovah's house, we can get a warm embrace not just from our brothers and sisters, but from Jehovah himself. - Meeting attendance is good.  And finally, 
• Sharing in the field ministry as much as our circumstances allow, is a work that is good. Please don't misunderstand' not just good for the community, but good for us.

The field ministry is good for us. How so? Well, the service puts everything in perspective. For example, if you've ever had one of those days, maybe a little 'pity party' day, when you were feeling discouraged, and it was field service morning, and you really had to push yourself to get out of the house. How did you feel once you got out in the ministry? How did you feel once the ministry was over? Better! Why? Well because, perhaps you met someone in service who was worse off than you. The only difference was they had no hope like you have. And there's the value of service, it puts it in perspective. In fact a Persian poet once said “I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.” And there's the beauty of the ministry. We may be feeling bad because our circumstances are so difficult, in essence, we have no shoes; we go in service and who do we meet? People without legs. Their problems are worse than our problems and they have no hope upon which to stand. And thus we are reminded that despite our challenges in life, how blessed we are as God's people.

Brothers and sisters, beyond the shadow of a doubt, this day that we're living in is our 'day of distress'. And thus, the encouragement we give you, don't show yourself discouraged now. Don't give Satan the victory. Remember Satan's claim is that Jehovah's Witnesses will not be able to stand up against the drip... drip... drip... of discouragement. Thank you for proving Satan to be the gross lair that we know that he is.

 

You know, we told you at the outset of our discussion the power of little drops of water in nature, didn't we? How little drops of water can wear down, even erode rocks and stones, even boulders? But you know that's not always a bad thing.

For example, anyone here ever been to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico? Carlsbad Caverns is one of the most beautiful, stunning cave systems in the entire world. It's Massive! And it's filled with stunning natural beauty. Things like stalactites, stalagmites, and other geological marvels that people will travel the world over just to get a glimpse of. By the way, you know how all of that beauty is formed? Drip... by drip... by drip... In fact, the official website for Carlsbad Caverns describes it this way: “as a cave decorated drop by drop”.

May we allow ourselves to be decorated, yes beautified drop by drop. May we take the things that Satan has designed to destroy us and crush us, and may we use those very things to make us more beautiful to Jehovah, drip... by drip... by drip...


Please, I would love to hear from you.
What types of discouragement are you experiencing?

And if you know of someone experiencing discouragement, please feel free to share this blog with them.