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DEALING WITH DISCOURAGEMENT
John 20:1-18 • by Steve May
I was eighteen when I got my first job in sales.
It was a summer job; I was going to earn money for college.
I was hired by a company who offered memberships to a tape club.
I love music, so naturally I thought everyone in the world would want to sign up for this fabulous-yet-affordable program.
Along with a half-dozen guys and girls my age, I went through an eight-hour training session, I memorized a lengthy sales presentation, I was given a list of 40 prospects to contact, and I hit the road.
For seven days I called on the people on my list.
To my surprise, most of them refused to let me in.
Those who did would most often sit and glare at me during my entire presentation.
No one bought.
Since the job was "straight-commission" I had nothing to show for the 40 plus hours I had worked that week.
When I went to the sales meeting the following Monday morning, I was absolutely despondent.
I was convinced that I had to be the worst salesman in history.
When I arrived at the sales meeting, I was surprised to see that of the six people in our training class, I was the only one who showed up.
All the others had quit during the previous week.
The sales manager said to me, "Steve, you showed up today.
That means you've got what it takes to make it sales."
I didn't have the heart to tell him that I had only showed up to turn in my sales book.
Since he believed in me, I decided I would give it one more week before calling it quits.
He then told me, "Unfortunately, since we have had trouble staffing this office, the district manager has decided to shut it down.
They're sending me to Tulsa.
If you are interested, you're welcome to come along."
I respectfully declined his offer.
It would be a long time before I had the courage to try a job in sales again.
One of the biggest obstacles we face in life is discouragement.
Once we get discouraged it's hard to keep going-it's hard to find the will to keep going.
When Jesus was arrested and put to death, his disciples were overcome with discouragement.
His most vocal follower, the Apostle Peter, denied him, deserted him, and ran for his life.
Today we're going to look at how the Apostle Peter dealt with his discouragement, and how he was able to overcome it.
First of all, let's consider...
1.THE CAUSE OF DISCOURAGEMENT
Discouragement is caused by unmet expectations.
We become discouraged when we don't meet our expectations, or when life doesn't meet our expectations, when others don't meet our expectations, or when God doesn't meet our expectations.
We act as though we live in a cause-and-effect world, and that things are supposed to turn out a certain way.
We believe that if we continue to do "A", eventually it will result in "B"-but life simply doesn't work that way.
A venture capitalist told me recently that though he rarely sees a poorly presented business plan, less than 5% of the proposals his firm reviews ever get capitalized.
Of those 5%, only 1 in 10 meet their projections.
This can be very discouraging for a businessman.
You work hard, you put in extra hours, you follow each step and see to every detail-but the effort is a bust.
Parents often become discouraged.
Many moms and dads do everything they know to do, yet in spite of their efforts, their children just don't turn out the way they expected.
Ministers are also vulnerable to discouragement.
Sometimes it seems that our efforts have no impact on the life of the church.
We pray, we study, we preach, we visit, we plan...but we don't see any visible results.
It is hard not to resign ourselves to long term discouragement.
A young man went to see a fortune-teller.
She studied his hand and told him, "You will be poor and completely miserable until you are 41 years old."
The man said, "Then what will happen?
Will I become rich?" "No," said the fortune teller.
"You'll always be poor, but you'll become accustomed to it so that it no longer makes you miserable."
Peter experienced discouragement when Jesus died.
He was discouraged because the death of Christ destroyed his expectations of how Jesus should establish His earthly kingdom.
Peter was also discouraged because during the process he failed to meet his own expectations.
Listen to what Peter said to Jesus...
"Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will."
(Matthew 26:33)
When Peter said this, Jesus told Peter, "This very night...you will disown me three times."
And Peter's response was...
"Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you."
(Matthew 26:35)
Peter put a tremendous amount of faith in himself-too much, in fact.
When he failed to meet his own expectations he became discouraged.
That's the cause of discouragement-failed expectations.
However, if we examine them closely, we'll often find that our expectations are unrealistic.
Peter's expectations were unrealistic.
Jesus told Peter they were unrealistic, yet Peter refused to listen.
Secondly, let's examine...
2. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A DISCOURAGED PERSON
When we become discouraged we tend to follow certain predictable behavior patterns in an attempt to overcome our discouragement.
First of all...
a.
We compromise.
In the 18th chapter of John, when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Peter drew his sword and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his ear.
In doing this Peter compromised the teaching of Christ.
Everything that Jesus had said about non-violence and non-resistance was disregarded.
Instead, Peter took matters into his own hands.
Of course, his plan didn't work.
He lowered his standards, but not his expectations.
When Peter attacked the high priest's servant, his expectations were still unrealistically high, but his commitment to obedience of the teachings of Christ had dropped several notches.
We're the same way.
When we become discouraged we cling to unrealistic expectations, and we'll do anything to make them happen-even if we have to sell our standards to do it.
b.
We quit.
Discouragement leads to despair.
This is what Peter experienced after he denied knowing Jesus.
The Bible says...
"Peter went outside and wept bitterly."
(Luke 22:62)
The song "He's Alive" by Don Francisco captures the despair that Peter must have experienced that night.
It says...
When at last it came to choices, I denied I knew His name.
Even if He was alive, it wouldn't be the same.
That's despair: The feeling that all hope is lost, and nothing can change things now.
Peter experienced it.
I've experienced it.
You probably have, too.
c.
We withdraw.
"The disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews."
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