Be Strong and Courageous  - I Will Never Give Up!: Overcoming the Valleys of Discouragement, Part 1

There are few things that have ever happened in my life that have created more fear and paralyzed me than when I deep in my heart wanted to give up, wanted to give up on my marriage, wanted to give up on the ministry.

What do you do when everything in you simply wants to give up? Well, that's today. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. The mission of these daily programs is to intentionally disciple Christians through the Bible teaching of Chip Ingram. Now imagine for a moment that you're a soldier on the battlefield. One of the most dangerous places you'll want to avoid is a valley.

You're vulnerable on all sides and uncertain of what lies ahead. Today, Chip will continue his series Be Strong and Courageous by describing the dangerous spiritual valley Christians should know about. But before he gets going, if you've missed any part of Chip's teaching through the book of Psalms, catch up anytime through the Chip Ingram app.

It's a simple way to listen to Living on the Edge anytime, anywhere. Well, if you have a Bible, go now to Psalm 103. As we join Chip with his message, I will never give up, overcoming the valleys of discouragement. You know, sometimes I forget that life is a journey.

You know, there's mountains and there's valleys. And I try to focus on I'm a child of God. I'm forgiven. I'm loved.

I'm empowered. There's a call on my life. And God has an agenda. He has an agenda for you and me as followers of Jesus. And he wants to love people. He wants to forgive people. He wants to restore people.

He wants hungry people to get fed and little kids to get cared for. And you know, I get excited about that. It's an exciting and amazing adventure to be a follower of Jesus. And especially when you have that focus and he's using your life and we're also human. And that means we get physically tired. We get emotionally exhausted. We get spiritually discouraged. And what I found is I just forget that life really is this journey.

And there are mountains and there are valleys. And when I'm in the valley, I usually think something's really wrong. I mean, what's wrong with me? I mean, I'm out of sync with God. You know, my life is all messed up.

And here's what I would say. When you get in one of those, I call them valleys of discouragement. It can be a very, very dangerous place. In fact, I would say that more than all the moral failures or more than getting into some, you know, cult or a hideous sin, the great majority of God's people, I mean the massive majority of God's people that get taken out of commission and aren't really used and have lost their joy and don't have this intimate relationship with God and are often very discouraged sort of as with a negative worldview.

My sense is it started very subtly and they were in one of those valleys. You've been there. I know we all have. In fact, the encouraging thing I love about the Psalms and studying the Psalms, and I can't remember when I discovered this because as my wife has told me, Chip, you have very high standards for yourself.

My kids have said, Dad, you got high standards for everyone. You can make us all nuts. But part of that is what I found is when everything wasn't sort of really being and doing what I thought it was supposed to, I automatically thought there was something wrong with me. You know, where have I erred?

What's gone wrong? And then as I started studying the Psalms, you know, David, a man after God's own heart, David the warrior, David the king, David that wrote half of the book of Psalms greatly used by God. And I started reading the Psalms and it's like, life is great.

God has all power for everything's fantastic. My life stinks. I can't believe you've left me. Everyone's betrayed me. And I began to watch that David was a great man of God.

And you know what? David was human. He had ups and he had downs just like you and me. And I want to start our time talking about that because I'm really concerned that maybe some of you are a little bit too much like me and that when you have some downs and you have some discouragements or things aren't going well, you start to either question yourself or you question God or you question God's plan.

And if you don't know how to handle discouragement, it can be a very, very dangerous place because it is lethal. Let me share a story with you about what I would just say is the most discouraging moment in my Christian life probably in the first seven to 10 years. And I came to Christ right after high school, college and playing basketball and college ministry and then teaching school and coaching and had some minor ups and downs. And then this big call from God. I mean, it was so surprised that I'm supposed to be in full-time ministry.

I thought that was for other people, smarter people, more holy people than me. But okay, I raised my hand and put everything in a truck with my wife and we go to seminary and I'm at about three years in. And the schedule because I wanted my wife to be at home was pretty much be up at four, 4.30 at the latest, go over to the donut shop, get a cup of coffee, study for three hours, especially get my Greek done, get a carpool, go to school in between every class, run over and study, study, study, read, read, read, get home at about 4.30, play with the kids for an hour, eat dinner, and then go to work from six to 11. I did that for three years. That was the rhythm.

And little by little by little by little by little. And every month because of just the way the world was working and I had a straight commission's job, I never knew if I had enough money to pay the bills. And then it happened to be a time those first three, three and a half years of our marriage, we didn't know how to resolve anger.

So we're going to some counseling and so stress was at every level. And I remember sitting in class. In fact, if you've ever read the Ryrie study Bible, I still remember is Dr. Ryrie's class, a theology class. And I think over time, physically, emotionally and spiritually, whatever metaphor, I mean, my spiritual tank, my emotional tank, my relational tank, I mean, there just was fumes and I've never experienced this before or after. And I remember sitting in this class and you know how we talked to ourselves?

I remember just, I don't know, he was talking about something and there's about 200 people in this room, you know, one of those rooms that, you know, stair steps up and I was about the middle and I'm just thinking, you know, so this is how you reward your servants. God is in my mind. So, you know, I left a career that I loved.

I married a girl that loves God with all of her heart and I make her crazy and she makes me crazy. I don't have any money. I can't pay my bills.

I live in this tiny apartment. I've moved all the way across the country. I'm away from all the family, all the support. I'm done. Literally, I mean, I'm telling you, I'm done. If this is what it looks like to be a committed follower of Jesus and this is what you get for being a committed follower of Jesus, I've had it.

I can't get up at 4 or 4.30, one more time. I can't rush through dinner one more time, get in my car and make all those calls and hope that someone is going to buy something and I was just discouraged, discouraged, discouraged and I was in a stupor and I use that word, I mean, very specifically because somehow I'm sitting there and the next thing I get is a tap on my shoulder and I look up and it's Dr. Ryrie and the room is empty and I'm thinking, where did everybody go or where was I when they left? And it was very interesting. He looked down at me. He was a thin man and wore those wired room glasses and he knew me. We had talked a little and he looked at me in a calm way and he said, Chip, yes, Dr. Ryrie. He said, I want you to go home and get two good night's sleep. I want you to make sure you have a good meal or two and then make a commitment to me that you won't make any big decisions in the next couple of days.

Okay. You know, got in the carpool, went home and when I slept for a couple of good days, I ate a couple of good meals, did some thinking, processed it out loud with Teresa. I'm telling you, I came that close to cashing in. I'm just not going to do this. I wasn't going to betray my walk with God, but this ministry, this calling, I am done. Now, what I'd like to say is that, you know, I had that one really bad experience and I don't get discouraged anymore. I don't struggle anymore. You know, I have mostly mountains and only a few valleys.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I've had multiple valleys. I've had multiple times, multiple times for different reasons. Maybe it was a betrayal. Maybe it was a challenge with one of my kids. Maybe it was we didn't have money again. Maybe it was cancer that we went through. Maybe it was a season of ministry where you gotta be kidding.

Maybe it was we don't have any money and the economy just fell through and I'm responsible for. I'm telling you, I've had so many times that I've just been so discouraged, but from that experience that I talked about, there was a go to passage. There was a passage that God spoke to me about that when I get there or when I even get close to there, I go to Psalm 103 and I declare out loud, right?

We have a declaration for each of these. I will never give up. I will not be overcome by the power and the valleys of discouragement. I will not let circumstances, my emotions and my fatigue cause me to give up.

I will not give up. And then I go to Psalm 103 and Psalm 103 is the antidote to the discouragement and to the want to give up and how God wants to sustain us in the midst of it. Psalm 103 starts with bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget none of his benefits. And then he begins to list him who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion, who satisfies your years with good things so that your youth is renewed like an eagle. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and we'll continue our series Be Strong and Courageous in just a minute. But quickly, are you looking for a practical way to deepen your prayer time with God? Then stick around after the message as Chip talks about an easy tool we've developed to help you be more intentional in your daily time with Jesus.

You won't want to miss it. Well, with that, here again is Chip. Notice first who David's talking to. He's talking to himself. He's thinking, you know, I don't feel like blessing or praising God. I'm not doing well.

The context, we don't know all that's happening. But what we know is that he's talking to himself and saying, uh, soul, you need to bless God. You need to praise God right now whether you feel like it or not.

And then you need to do it from the heart. Bless the Lord. Praise God in my innermost being, with all my innermost being.

Get real. Share it from your heart. Begin to really say, God, thank you. Praise you.

And by the way, it's a choice. I don't think he feels like it. And when we get here, we often don't feel like it. He says, praise the Lord. And then he says, forget none of his benefits. And here's the key. Here's the turning point.

When I was sitting in that class, my self talk, I had listed all the bad and forgot the good, all the problems and forgot all the progress, all the deficits and forgot all the pluses. And what David is saying here is you have to pull yourself up by the scruff of the neck and you've got to say, look, you may feel that way. You may be tired. You may be emotionally exhausted. You may be spiritually discouraged.

Guess what? Welcome to the spiritual NFL. Every saint, every person, every missionary, every pastor, every businessman, every mom, every dad, every student finds themselves in a valley at times. There's nothing wrong with you. You're normal. You're human. It doesn't mean God doesn't love you anymore. It doesn't mean you're a bad person. It means you're empowered. You're loved.

You're forgiven. You're a child of God. And it's really hard right now. And so what do you do? He says, here's what you do. You choose to bless God.

And then here's how. He says, don't forget his benefits. Jot this down in your brain, will you? There's power in remembering. Remember, remember, remember. In fact, there's such power in remembering that God wrote an entire book, Deuteronomy. And after he tells all the story of creation and all that's happened in the great Exodus, and then he gives them all these rules in Leviticus, before they didn't go into the promised land, Deuteronomy, second law. And if you read through Deuteronomy, it's remember, remember, remember, remember.

You know why? Because we forget. And when you're tired, what you remember is the pain. When you're discouraged, all you can see is what's not right.

When you're spiritually struggling, all you can do is look inward and you get into self-pity. And so notice the very specifics that he wants us to remember. He says, who forgives all your sins. If you have your Bible open, circle some of these words so that when you go back and read it next time, you remember. Who heals all your diseases.

Heals. Who redeems your life from the pit. Remember, you were saved. Who crowned you with loving kindness and compassion. Who satisfies your years with good things.

Why? So that your youth or your vigor, your perspective is renewed like the eagle. Notice there's forgiveness. That's a spiritual blessing. Your salvation. Then notice he heals your diseases. Physical blessing. Notice there's redemption. That's eternal life. Notice he crowns you. It's a picture of God's favor and blessing and friendships and family and gifts.

And he's looking back on his life and saying, I'm going through the mile markers of the major things in my life. What God has done for me. I don't feel like it, but I've told my soul we're having this conversation because my soul is discouraged. My soul is not going to a good place. And I'm saying to myself, hey, come on now. We need to praise God.

Well, where do you do it? Let's start remembering what he's done. I am forgiven. I'm on my way to heaven. I've been redeemed.

I've been pulled out of the pit of darkness and I have new standing. God has crowned me with loving kindness. He's blessed my life. I've experienced his favor. I've experienced his presence. He's done great things.

He's answered prayers. If you want to begin to turn things around when you're discouraged, remember that giving praise to God is a choice and remember that not forgetting is something you have to do. And so I literally have a little journal and I write in it when I get discouraged and I'll say, what are God's blessings? And I'll write family. Then I'll jot a line or two about do I have issues in my family?

Everybody has issues in their family and so do you. But I got a lot of blessings. And then maybe friends and think about who are your friends? Who's God brought in your life? Who's been there for you?

And then in my case, it's ministry. You know, I'm pretty excited about when I look at the positive, God's done a number of things and he's let me be a part of it, of finances. Even if it's hard right now, think of where most of the world is and think of where you are. I mean, some of these things you can give more thanks for than other times, but I just take these areas, my work, answers to prayer, spiritual growth, God's comfort and adversity, things he's done in my life.

Often when I have just a little bit of a discouragement and you know, this is true of everyone, especially pastors and others, but I don't get up every single morning going, yes, I love God. We are going for it. We're going to make a difference together.

You know what? I have mornings like, yes, I go look at the stars. I have my cup of coffee. I feel really tired. And here's what I feel like. God, I know you really love me today, but I don't, I don't, I don't really feel like reading my Bible.

And you know, okay. It was a late night and oh boy, I started to pray, but it's so superficial. I don't really feel like praying either. And what I know is I can say, well, I'll catch you tomorrow. I've done that before, but what I've learned instead is to, uh, to get a pin out and I opened my little journal and I say, dear God, I don't feel like praying today and I don't really want to meet with you, but I know that you're there. And I also know that if I live my life according to my feelings, I'll not be the man I want.

I'll not have the relationships that I want and my life won't ever turn out the way I want. And so I want to stop right now and I just want to remember some of your blessings. And literally, I mean, I just do this.

I'll put a little dash. God, thank you for Teresa. She loves me when I'm good, when I'm bad. Lord, thank you for Eric. Thank you for Jason. Thank you for Ryan. Thank you for Annie. God, thank you so much that I just yesterday so and so called me.

I haven't heard from from ages. Lord, thank you that so and so dropped in and we had a cup of coffee. Lord, I almost forgot to thank you and I just start writing and I'll fill out a page.

It only takes about 10 minutes. And by the time I get done remembering even what God did yesterday or if I'm a little bit more discouraged, then I'll flip back maybe four or five days or a week or so of pages because I've written prayers. Oh, you did that. You did that. You did that. If I get really discouraged, it's like, oh, man, I'm in one of those I'm getting close to the wall and things are kind of bad.

I'll go back and I'll say I'll read like two or three months. And what I'll do is I'll remember the faithfulness of God. Remembering God's past faithfulness will empower you to trust him for the future.

That's what David is doing. You need to remember when you're discouraged. You just choose to do it when you're discouraged.

It will empower you to move ahead, to break through those feelings and begin to walk with God. This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. And you've been listening to part one of Chip's message, I Will Never Give Up, overcoming the valleys of discouragement from our series Be Strong and Courageous.

Chip will be back shortly to share some helpful application for us to think about. The Greek philosopher Sophocles once wrote, To him who is in fear, everything rustles. That sadly describes our society to a T. Every decision and action is motivated by or rooted in fear. So as followers of Jesus, how do we break free from that toxic mindset? In this series, Chip studies eight powerful psalms that will help strengthen your faith and conquer your fears. Learn how to focus on the love and goodness of God when you feel discouraged, anxious, or cynical. If you've missed any part of Chip's teaching, catch up at livingonthedge.org or through the Chip Ingram app. Well, before we go any further, here's Chip. Thanks Dave.

And let me ask you a direct question. Have you ever struggled with the goodness of God? And if so, what I want to suggest is that is very, very normal. We tend to remember pain, difficulty, and struggle, and we tend to really forget blessing.

It's not so much your actual experience as it is the faulty memory. And that's why the Psalm 103 says, you know, bless the Lord O my soul, bless the Lord O my soul, and forget not any of his benefits. And I share that because I think we need a tool to remember. And so I keep a journal for that purpose. And I don't feel like I have to write in it every day, but you know, a few times a week, I'm writing down, I put a little asterisk, thank you God for, and I mean, it may sound mundane, but thank you that one of my sons called and you know, he's been out of town for a long time.

Thank you so much for the sunset. Thank you so much for speaking to me out of, you know, Psalm 46. And I'll list things I'm thankful for, or you know, I'll have a struggle and I put a little box and I'll write a prayer request.

And when it's answered, I go back and I put a check and I put a date and a little answer. And then I do get discouraged. I do forget that God is good. I have mornings and times where I don't want to pray, I don't want to read. The issue is I've lost perspective and I get that journal and I'll go back a week or two weeks or a month and I'll read what God has done the last month or so.

And all of a sudden my perspective is, oh wow, you have been good to me. And so if you've never kept a journal, we have created one that is uniquely designed for you in a way that will help you personally. It has some great quotes, some great songs and hymns, some prompts. I would encourage you if you struggle with remembering and tracking your journey, this journal will be a great help.

Dave, why don't you take a minute and tell people how they can get a hold of it. To learn more about our prayer journals, visit LivingOnTheEdge.org or call us at 888-333-6003. These beautiful, compact notebooks have plenty of space for your prayers and personal journaling, along with scripture verses, hymn lyrics, and quotes to encourage you. If you want a more intentional, enriching time with God, this tool will help. For more details about our prayer journals, visit LivingOnTheEdge.org or call 888-333-6003.

App listeners tap special offers. Chip, today you really doubled down on the importance of staying encouraged and that when we lose courage, everything falls apart. Now why is that? Dave, I say that because once you get discouraged, you make bad decisions. When you're discouraged, you tend to act in ways that reinforce some really bad patterns and habits that really wreck your life. In fact, I remember a little story that I read that's apocryphal, but really brings out this point.

It goes like this. Once upon a time, the devil had a yard sale to sell his most precious and useful tools. Greed, pride, lust, resentment, gossip, selfishness, apathy. These were a few that drew the highest bids from the demons who came to buy from his resources. After a while, a visitor noticed two tools at the end of the table that were without a price tag and that were noticeably worn. When he attempted to purchase the items, the devil quickly stepped, they're not for sale. Perceiving the tremendous value of these tools, the demon offered to pay any price, but the devil didn't budge. As he turned away, the demon asked, if I can't buy them, at least tell me what they are.

A slow, wicked grin grew on the devil's face. The one is doubt, and the other one is discouragement. When I can't bring victims down, these two tools can accomplish any task. If I can get people discouraged and full of doubt, then I have successfully neutralized them. Discouragement is one of the most powerful weapons, and Psalm 103 is one of the most powerful antidotes. Can I encourage you, if you're deeply discouraged, read the first five verses of Psalm 103 out loud and it will be an antidote to discouragement.

Great story and great application for us to think about, Chip. As we close, I want to thank each of you who makes this program possible through your generous giving. One hundred percent of your gifts go directly to the ministry to help Christians live like Christians. Now, if you found this teaching helpful but aren't yet on the team, consider doing that today.

Sending a gift is easy. Go to livingontheedge.org or call us at 888-333-6003. That's 888-333-6003. Or, visit livingontheedge.org. App listeners, tap donate. And let me thank you in advance for doing whatever the Lord leads you to do. Well, be sure to join us next time as Chip continues his series, Be Strong and Courageous. Until then, I'm Dave Drew, saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.