Entitled to Be Discouraged?

“And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way…And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.” (Nu 21:4,6 AV)

 

Kind of a harsh judgment for discouragement, wouldn’t you think?  That is if we thought discouragement was natural and an acceptable emotion.  As we spoke of several times earlier, just because we can feel an emotion doesn’t mean we are entitled to feel it.  Obviously, in the verses above, we see the LORD did not tolerate the emotion of discouragement.  At least in this case above.  The reason God did not tolerate this discouragement was not because of the emotion itself.  Rather, the cause of the emotion.  The cause of the emotion was a lack of water and lack of variety in their diet.  God provided manna every day.  They never had to sow, reap, store, or anything that went along with providing food for one’s family.  The cattle grazed on new fields every day.  When their cattle used up a field, God moved them to a new place.  The effort they exerted for their own survival was minimal.  God took care of it all.  Now, they find themselves lacking, and are discouraged.  They had no right to be.  And that was the problem.

When we think of discouragement, there are legitimate reasons to be discouraged.  David was discouraged because his loyal friends left him.  He didn’t remain that way, but rather, encouraged himself in the LORD.  There is the loss of a loved one.  This discouragement is often a long one.  There is a discouragement that can come at the loss of hope.  That is until new hope arrives.  However, most of our discouragement is self-inflicted because we are looking at the wrong motivation.  Above, the children of Israel were murmuring because there was no water where the glory of the LORD settled.  They had manna to eat and only manna.  What they chose not to dwell on was that every time God settled on a place with no water, He Himself provided it.  What they chose to dwell on was the lack of variety in their diet rather than the fact they didn’t have to work to provide for their family.  At least not all that much.  Aside from caring for the cattle, there wasn’t much more the wandering Jew had to do each day.  Even the soles of their shoes never wore out.  Their discouragement came because they were looking at the wrong sets of realities.  Instead of setting their affection on things above, they chose to set their affections on the things of this earth.

Sometimes, I challenge a pessimist to give me any set of circumstances that have no upside.  It is a fun game to play.  He or she may start off with the obvious.  The death of a loved one.  Then move on to more personal things.  My challenge is to come up with a positive spin or benefit from an otherwise negative event.  It is challenging.  But it is illuminating.  This teaches us several truths.  The first is to be thankful no matter the set of circumstances.  God is always good.  That which comes upon us has been decreed from the beginning by a God who is gracious and benevolent.  First, for His glory, then for our good.  Second, we cannot live in a state of one-sided or linear interpretation.  Events are more complicated than that.  There is always more than one side to anything that happens.  We can learn from this exercise that what we are experiencing may be unpleasant, but there are benefits to it as well.  For the children of Israel, being without water meant that God could again provide a miracle that would increase their faith.  As to the manna, I can understand where the complaints might be.  If I was laid up in the hospital and for every meal, they provided the exact same food prepared in different ways, I might be tempted to complain, too.  However, I didn’t have to work to provide it.  Some people worked hard to mix it up a bit.  Etc.  Discouragement often comes because of the way we look at the situation rather than the situation itself.  This is why the LORD got so angry.  They were ungrateful for all God did for them and became discouraged because of their own ungratefulness.  Next time we are discouraged, we better examine why we might be.  More times than not, we have no right to be and we are causing a bit of displeasure in the God whom we say we love and appreciate.