What You Say Can Hurt You
If the devil can get you depressed, he can affect every area of your life. He can affect your physical body. He can affect your ability to be a witness to that neighbor or to that person on the job. He can even affect your ability to pray for somebody else's healing.
The devil wants to destroy you. He wants to destroy the church and he wants to destroy your ministry. He is the destroyer, but many times his destruction and total devastation of your life begins with the subtleness of disappointment.
Remember the time when the Hebrews sent the twelve spies out into the Promised Land? (Num. 13.) When the spies came back, two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, had a good report. They said, "Hey, we can do what God says. We can go into the Promised Land. We can conquer. Let's go." Ten of the spies came back with a bad report. They said, "The land looks pretty good, but there are giants in there. We are like grasshoppers to them. They're going to stomp us. There is no way we can go in and take that land." The people wanted a good report, but they didn't get one.
Have you ever gone to a doctor and you wanted a good report? Have you ever applied for a job and you wanted a good report from the company? Have you ever asked somebody out on a date and you wanted a good report? Were you waiting for a yes, and the report returned with a no? Everyone wants a good report.
How did the Hebrews react when they heard the bad report about the giants? Most likely at first, they were just a little disappointed. They wanted a good report. At that point they could have taken that small disappointment and turned it around and spoken faith and moved right on into the Promised Land. They could have said, "That report disappoints me, but I am not going to listen to that report. I'm going to listen to what God said instead of what they said. I will not be disappointed."
Look at what the Scripture says in Romans 5:5: "Hope does not disappoint." So if the people had hope when they heard the disappointing report, they could have said, "Wait a minute. I have hope. Hope doesn't disappoint. I am not disappointed. Yes, they gave a bad report and it took me back a little bit, but nevertheless, I've got hope. Let's go into the Promised Land!" Then they could have gone in. However, they tried to handle the disappointment themselves.
How do you handle disappointment yourself? A lot of people sit down and talk it out. The Scripture says that's what they did. They went back to their tents and they talked. Then, no longer was there just disappointment. It developed into discouragement. The more they talked, the more discouraged they became. The more they got discouraged, the more they grumbled. They grumbled and murmured and eventually God got angry because of their words. Every one of the people who grumbled and complained about the disappointing news they heard died in the wilderness. Not a single one of them went into the Promised Land.
If we allow disappointment to fester and develop into discouragement and then speak the discouragement, it displeases God because we are not in faith (remember Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it's impossible to please Him). The reason it displeases God is that He loves us and wants to bless us, but the devil wants to destroy us. When we get into doubt and unbelief, it can block or hinder us from receiving all that God has for us and it opens us up to the enemy's attacks and destruction. And that is just what Satan wants.
When a disappointment comes along, it may seem like a little thing, like not being able to find our keys. We think we can handle something like that. We need to take every single disappointment in life, no matter how small or how big it is, and turn right around and put the Word of God on it.
Don't let disappointment develop into discouragement. Instead, go to the throne of grace and receive grace from the Father to turn your disappointment into joy and victory. (Heb. 4:16.)
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