Discouragement - Part 3 - Positive Perspective

When discouragement comes, whether it be over a specific event, a single failure, or something more enduring, the discouragement can seem overwhelming. It can take over the entire life, becoming so huge that it overshadows all else and so constant that it permeates all of life. It can become difficult to see anything else or to imagine any possible release. What a believer needs is a shift in focus and a deliberate examination of a different reality. The afflicted person must purposefully readjust his perspective.

Here's what the Bible says about affliction. "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (II Corinthians 4:16-18 NASB).

The Bible does not deny that difficult times will come; in fact, it teaches that they will. In the midst of the trial, however, a believer does not need to lose heart. He can have hope; that hope comes as the Christian takes an eternal perspective rather than a temporal one. One of the most beautiful, stabilizing, and motivating truths of the Christian faith is that there is an eternity to come. No matter how long this life with its trials lasts, it will end. No matter how overwhelming the struggles may be, there will be relief.

Man is so limited by his constant focus on this life that he easily loses sight of the reality that there is also an eternal perspective. Eternity in heaven will far overshadow this life. What happens now may seem terrible, and it may seem to last for a long time. With an eternal perspective, however, one can realize that neither the intensity ("light") nor the duration ("momentary") of the affliction is really that bad. When the believer reaches the glories of heaven, every heartache of life will disappear, simply swallowed up by the overwhelming glories of heaven. There will not be merely enough glory to smooth over the harshness; the glory will ascend so abundantly above the harshness that the hardships won't even deserve another thought - and that glory will last forever.

The glory that will come at the end of life's trials is not limited to what the believer himself will experience in heaven. A Christian's enduring faith through trials also brings glory directly to God. "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (I Peter 1:6-7). When Christ returns and gathers believers to Himself, God's work will evoke tremendous rejoicing. The purified faith of believers who have endured through trials will bring great glory and praise and honor to God. These ones who have faithfully suffered will be a beautiful trophy of God's victory over self and sin and trouble. It is an amazing thought that something so terrible has the potential to be used in such a lofty purpose.

While the hope of heaven offers a wonderful perspective, it is not the only hope a believer possesses. God's work also has impact in the here and now. "After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you" (I Peter 5:10). Though there are trials that will last until the very end of life, it is more often the case that God brings deliverance here on this earth. A particular trouble may last for weeks, months, or even years, but God does give deliverance and restoration after a time. He comes and does a very personal healing and strengthening work in the life of the believer, a work whose full magnitude is possible only because of the trial.

This is, in fact, one of God's great purposes for afflictions. "Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:3-4). God is equipping His children to serve Him better, to reflect Him more fully, and to more effectively do His work. Through the trial of faith accomplished through these earthly afflictions, the believer is molded more and more into the image of Christ. He reaches new levels of maturity, which brings glory to God, answers his own heart cry for growth, and has impact on those around him.

With such an impressive work by God in the life of the sufferer, a believer can maintain a positive perspective as he regards the wonder of God's current plan. His positive perspective is enhanced even more as he remembers the incredible hope of God's eternal plan. A focus on the trial, the difficulty, and the affliction will bring (or increase) discouragement, but a focus on God's plan, God's glory, and God's ultimate release will bring hope.