EZRA 4:4–5 – Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

THEME OF THE DAY. OVERCOMING DISCOURAGEMENT IN GOD’S WORK. In today’s scripture, God’s people are rebuilding the temple. It is hard work met with hard opposition. The adversaries of Judah are committed to stopping them, And the best way to cease a work ordained by God is to pressure the people of God to be distracted, discouraged, and just quit. Such tactics of the world are not restricted to the temple. The church is also constantly opposed by the world, but only if the church is living out its life and ministry centralized on Christ. When a church has lost its first love and simply is “doing church” externally, there is no impact in the world and no need for the world to oppose it by discouragement. But like building the temple, when a church is having influence, expect opposition and forces of discouragement to distract it from its mission with a goal to cease its mission.

Well, when discouragement seeks to enter the lives of a church and Christians to distract us from our calling and mission – the work of the Gospel – what might we do to fight it off and defeat it? Here are two things to remember and apply.

First, expect the work of the Lord, His Gospel, to be met with Satanic and worldly opposition. Why? It is the most important work in which a human being and church engages themselves. There is nothing of higher value and priority in the church and among Christians than the work of the Gospel. The Apostle Paul would tell us of the Gospel – Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Two words in his statement sum up the mission we are on – “First importance.” So, don’t be discouraged because of opposition. Be encouraged. It verifies we are on mission.

Another thing to remember and do to overcome opposition to the work of the Lord by distracting discouragement is to ensure much time, a really lot of time, is spent with Christians who are also committed to the work of the Lord. Don’t hang around with “on the sideline” Christians who simply come to church, sometimes, on a Sunday and engage in little to no body life. They will be discouragers as well. Make company with those full of Christ, passionate about Him, love the Gospel and sinners, and are engaged in all! It is one of God’s greatest sources of encouragement to be in fellowship with Christ-centered believers who are serious about His Word, His Work, and His will.

Discouragement. It is an occupational hazard for those Christians wanting to make a difference for the Lord. Prepare for it, and then fight against it by remembering the importance of our work and the strength to overcome by being with other Christians also wanting to make a difference.

PRAYER: “Lord, help me not to let a discouraging world get more of my time than Your encouraging people.”

QUOTE: “Spend a lot of time with Christians who are encouragers and be one of those yourself.”