Your Daily Walk by Dr. Gary Schluckebier
January 2010
HOW TO HANDLE DISCOURAGEMENT
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is........
Hebrews 10:25
Here is a fact: People tend to skip church and stay away from other believers when they get discouraged. People need people; Christians need Christians; Veterans need Veterans; and so the list could go on. There are many reasons why people stay away from other people when they are discouraged. Perhaps they are embarrassed that they are not as successful as someone else. Or, that they can't seem to be so full of joy like someone else because of the hurt of rejection or sorry for past performances from their own life. Perhaps they're ashamed that they're still struggling with problems they think should have been conquered long ago. Maybe they don't want anyone to know they're still wrestling with the same old problems, so they disappear from sight.
Please don't let embarrassment or discouragement keep you away from other believers. You need their strength! You need their encouragement! You need to hear them say, "You can do it! You can make it!" You need, for example the other people who attend an Addicts Victorious or Veterans Victorious, or Prisoner Victorious support group meeting. You need a church home where you can fellowship with other believers.
Hebrews 10:25 says, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is....." The word "forsaking" describes someone who is extremely discouraged, defeated, and depressed from the Greek word expressing this meaning. The moment people begin to feel like they are failing or falling short of everyone else is often the moment when Satan tells them, "Oh, just stay away from church and those support groups. You don't need to go down there with all those positive, rejoicing people! You know that you don't feel like being with them today, so why not just stay home by yourself? You don't need them. You can just get a sermon off of your T.V. You can read the Bible at home!"
Satan knows that if he can get you to fall out of fellowship with other believers at the very moment when you need fellowship and encouragement the most, then he can probably keep you down and defeated. Fellowship with other believers is essential for everyone, and that includes you! You receive encouragement from other believers that you can't get anywhere else.
A support group meeting or the church is the last place the devil wants you to go when you're feeling low! He knows if you go, you will be touched by the Presence of the Lord; you will get encouraged by other believers; and in the end, you'll crawl out of that hole the enemy has put you in and rise up to a place of victory!
Instead of letting the devil and your flesh get the best of you in moments of weakness, here's a suggestion: In addiction to prayer and reading the Word at home when you're feeling down and out, go find another believer or a group of believers who can build you up in faith and encourage you in the Lord. After fellowshipping with people of faith, you'll feel recharged to go back and face those challenges with a winning attitude!