Overcoming Discouragement

Over the past few days, the Father has been speaking to me about a battle over many of His people, and He said this battle is called discouragement.

The enemy has set out to do as much damage as possible to stop, interfere with, and delay what God has promised us, but the one thing he has monopolized on most is using discouragement to keep many of us weighed down and entangled.

Now, I know there are many things that are happening in the world that are really discouraging, to say the least. And I know many of us are going through personal hardships that are just as disheartening and difficult. However, we must learn how to overcome while we are still in the battle and that is ultimately done through the overcoming nature of our Lord Jesus.

I strongly sense the Father wants to stir up the overcomer in us because we have “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27) within us as born-again believers. We have the capacity to overcome because the One who has already overcome the world is alive and well in us and He wants to empower us to move and function as the mighty overcomers we truly are.

We are being called to operate from our true identities as His sons and daughters on earth as it is in Heaven. The Father not only wants us to renew our minds in Christ but also allow Him to establish new paradigms of Kingdom thinking, doing, and being in our everyday lives, which will help us in our overcoming.

In a way, there is a divine discontentment that is paralleling this battle of discouragement and it’s through this discontentment the Spirit of God is calling us to come up higher. 

I remember hearing the late Prophet Kim Clement say something several years ago that stumped me initially but gave way to having a spiritual light bulb moment later on. He used the phrase, “The dynamic of God operating within the demonic” while he was doing a teaching on how the Father uses whatever He desires to accomplish His perfect will and work all things together for our good.

I’m sure if you’re hearing this for the first time you’re likely thinking the same thing I did, namely—Whhhaaaat?!?

I started asking Holy Spirit what in the world this meant because I didn’t understand how that was possible. He showed me and once I got it; I saw it was a deep and profound truth. 

Let me explain what I'm getting at. 

God is greater than the devil and his kingdom of darkness every day of the week. Even in the midst of demonic happenings, the Father is always about His business and it’s often in ways we cannot see or fathom. 

We know He does not author evil, but in His wisdom, He will sometimes allow the workings of the enemy to play out in order to bring about His higher purpose and Jesus is the perfect example of this.

Satan must have really thought he had the Lord finished off while He was hanging on the cross, even more so when he actually died, but little did that devil know; it was the greater dynamic of God at work. The enemy didn't have a clue Jesus chose to lay down His life for us. And he sure didn't know the deep selfless love that motivated Him to do it. 

In the midst of what looked to be the total undoing and end of Jesus, the Son of God, a supernatural and eternal overcoming was taking place. More was accomplished through the crucifixion of Jesus than anyone knew while it was happening and even though He told the disciples ahead of time He would rise again in three days; the pain and horror of the moment overshadowed His words. I’d say they were pretty discouraged. 

We know the rest of the story; three days later speaks for itself. But for the sake of truth, I will say it nonetheless – Jesus was raised from the dead by God’s Spirit; just as He said would happen. He overcame all and He did it for us. 

The unthinkable gave way to the extraordinary; the impossible yielded the possible. God was powerfully at work in what seemed to be the devil’s playground. On the outside looking in all was lost, but on the inside looking out all was saved.

Whew. Let that sink in for a minute.

It’s like that with us. We can be so overwhelmed with what’s happening in the present that we cannot see beyond it – and we’ve all been there. Even if God has given us a prophetic word to carry us through; we can lose sight of it in the depths of our struggle and discouragement.

Of all the days, Saturday – the day in-between His crucifixion and resurrection – was probably the hardest. Waiting usually is. But waiting on the Lord also carries its own strength and harvest if we don’t give up (Isaiah 40:31; Galatians 6:9). 

Waiting eventually gives way to what’s really going on behind the scenes, meaning what cannot be visibly seen. Until it is. 

He is indeed doing a greater, higher work and much of it has been taking place out of sight, although we may be seeing some evidence of it. While He’s been revealing many things concerning this to His sons and daughters, including His prophets, it still isn’t fully visible. We only have certain pieces because we know in part and prophesy in part (1 Corinthians 13:9), which speaks to the importance of bringing our pieces together to help form a better and unified whole but that’s for another time. 

So while we’re waiting for His glorious plan and promises to unfold in our day and age, we must learn to overcome those things that are trying to oppose us in the process, including discouragement. And we must learn to overcome it through the ways He's wanting to teach us, which will be uniquely different for each of us. This is what I'm being shown is on the Father's heart.

There is a unique way He speaks or communicates to every, single person, and so there is a unique way He will reveal how to overcome discouragement to each person as well. 

For one person it might be through fun and laughter; for another, it might be through downtime and rest; another it might be through prayer and counseling; another through reading and decreeing the Scriptures; still another perhaps through art, nature, or a pet. Or maybe its a combination of these; whatever it is, just listen and heed His voice because He knows what you individually need. And ultimately, keep your focus on the Overcomer himself; that is Jesus – the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). 

The mere fact that His revelation is so personal is amazing enough but add the dynamic overcoming nature of Jesus operating within us and it goes to new heights - Kingdom heights. And that's exactly what He wants.

Whatever you might be discouraged about, whatever you’re going through or waiting on the Lord for, know you carry His overcoming nature within you as an heir of God and co-heir with Jesus.

Right now I speak encouragement to each of you through Christ. I speak to the overcomer in you—rise up in the Name of Yeshua Jesus! And I pray and ask Holy Spirit to reveal the unique way in which the Father wants you to learn to overcome discouragement in your life. 

In the meantime, rest in knowing you are very precious to Him, His grace is sufficient for you, and He is able to do abundantly more than you could ask or imagine according to His power at work within you. 

He believes in you, beloved.


Michelle 
Copyright ©️ 2017


Photo Copyright © Michelle Holderman

Michelle Holderman
Copyright © 2017 

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