I always write out of the depths of my own soul and this writing is no different. For me, writing is a form of healing, as I proclaim what I have internalized. So…I write and I hope it is an encouragement to you.
2020 has been a year of discouragement for many, myself included. With the start of a new year, there is always the hope of our best laid plans. Nobody could have predicted what this particular year was going to bring…
In it’s infancy, we began to hear rumors of a dangerous virus in the new year. The messaging was complicated – it was either going to be a pandemic of biblical proportion, comparable to the Spanish Flu, or it was an overblown political ruse…with very little ground between the two. Then there were the politics of a nation – full blown war with anyone who disagreed. We were no longer a people who disagreed…we were enemies.
While all of this played out on a global and national scale, there was the more personal problems. Families dealt with disease, the pain of loss, mental health, joblessness, and abnormality. As one of my deacons likes to say, often, “Nothing feels normal..everything is just off.”
Webster’s dictionary defines discouragement as “a loss of confidence or enthusiasm; dispiritedness.” For me, “discouragement” is BLINDNESS. Discouragement isn’t something you can put your finger on. It comes from nowhere and, therefore, seems impossible to get rid of at times.
This year has felt like that many times. I feel blindsided often. Things pop up I wasn’t expecting. I am surprised, caught off-guard, and unprepared. Common courtesy seems to be a thing of the past. Expectations aren’t met.
It’s funny, I find myself riding a roller coaster and begging to get off. At times, I have felt like I made a decision to hop on the ride and, at other times, I have felt like I simply woke up that day strapped in, as the decisions of others carried me away. I’ll spare you the details, but on one particular day I began rejoicing over some growth in the local church and then was met with a discouraging report about a family going a different direction. Then a friendship was restored that I had given up on, which was followed by news of a friend in distress. These were followed by a surprise phone call from an erring believer repenting and seeking restoration, which was followed by a trusted confidant not returning calls…I haven’t gotten to lunch time yet, lol.
Discouragement…it’s like walking blind. There was so much to rejoice in and then…the mind gets consumed by a thousand little things that aren’t quite right. You would think that the good would “outweigh the bad.” But it doesn’t…according to John Gottman and Robert Levenson, the ration of good to bad has to be 5:1. In other words, for every negative, it takes five positives to overcome. Because of our fallen condition, we are prone to focus on the negative.
In a season of darkness/blindness, that’s a difficult ratio to overcome. I’m prone to hate blindness…I like to have all the facts, understand the situation, prepare for decisions so we can reach determined outcomes. 2020 has been a disaster for my Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (written with a smile on my face!). For lack of any other descriptor – I’ve learned this year to be surprised only by the lack of any surprise…every day will bring a thousand new surprises. It’s like walking blind…
In my discouragement, the only thing I knew was to turn to the Lord. Every day has been a lesson in perseverance. A gentle reminder is set on my phone screen – “Do the Next Right Thing.” But even that has not been enough…and so, with nowhere else to turn, I turn to the One who wants my undivided attention daily.
And He says, “I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them” (Isaiah 42:16).
It has been a fascinating word for me from the Lord’s Word. In it, there is the promise of light in darkness and rough paths being made level. But the light that pierced the darkness was the leading hand of the Light of the World – the presence of Christ. The rough road was made level because His hand takes ours and upholds us with his strength.
During deer season, I had the privilege of hanging out with my son quite a bit. We worked hard to get him a nice buck. One of the first mornings, we were walking in to our stand and suddenly I realized the footsteps behind me weren’t there. I doubled back and found him standing a few yards behind. “Why aren’t you walking Isaiah?” “Dad, I stepped in a hole back there…I can’t see where we are going…I can’t see you.” So I took his hand…suddenly the darkness didn’t seem so bad and the rough terrain wasn’t a source of tripping. The terrain really didn’t change and the sun wasn’t coming up – but because there was a hand holding his, the journey was navigable.
I suppose it’s a microcosm of my life and an illustration of the year. Like everybody else, there have been times I felt like I lost his hand – like there was some blindness.
But there is today an abundance of joy as I cry out in the darkness and find His hand extended. “I will lead the blind…in paths they have not known I will guide them…I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground…I do not forsake them.”
If you feel like this has been a season of discouragement…be encouraged. Be reminded that while the blindness seemed overwhelming, He is right here with you. “I do not forsake them.”