Then I prayed, “Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land!
Read Nehemiah 4:1-15. How do you defeat discouragement in your life? You remember that God loves you. And because God loves you he doesn’t give you what you deserve. He shows you grace and mercy instead.
The people of Judah didn’t “deserve” to have Jerusalem’s walls rebuilt. They didn’t “deserve” to have Jerusalem safe and secure again. They had sinned against God. They had turned away from him and abandoned their covenant with him. They had not obeyed his commands. They had been unfaithful.
God had every right to be angry with them. He could have refused to listen to Nehemiah’s prayers on their behalf. But instead, he showed them grace and mercy. He brought them back to Jerusalem, the place he had promised to dwell with them. God gave them what they needed, not what they deserved.
He does the same for us. He loves you. All you need to do is to let him love you. When you do that and you experience his love, mercy and grace, then your discouragement disappears. You can pursue his purpose for your life and fulfil all that he has planned for you.
THINK IT OVER
Think about the following:
When you hear God speak, do you feel he criticises you or speaks to you in love? Why?