Are you discouraged today? It is a common feeling even in the midst of the Christmas season. In fact, with so many unmet desires, it may be that more people feel down about life during the holiday season than any other time of year. Having just finished my first year on this long road with Leukemia, I’ve found more discouraging turns in the path than I had expected or hoped. But where there isn’t a cure (yet) to AML, there IS a cure to discouragement:
1. See how many people you can encourage today and you will find your own discouragement fade. It is a simple enough task. Simply pay attention to those around you. Show them recognition and value. Make a phone call or write a note to show concern. Scrape someone’s car windows without them knowing.
2. Make a list of the things for which you are thankful. With the temps below zero in Iowa, I am thankful for a warm house. I am thankful for my loving wife. I am thankful for those true friends who stayed close through this cancer journey so I wouldn’t have to go it alone. I am thankful to again find God’s Word always true and dependable, his grace indeed sufficient for my need, and his strength perfect in my weakness. My list goes on. How about your list?
As you speak your list of thanks out loud, if they are from the heart, you will find your discouragement dwindle. God inhabits praise and in his presence you cannot be overly discouraged for long.
“Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise.” Hebrews 13:1-2,15
Beautiful!