2024: First Day, First Discouragement
God is good even in discouragement😃
2024. Here we are.
I wrote down 10 goals for the new year and feel like I already failed. I didn't exercise today. But the day is not done yet!
This first day of the year started off with a sense of freshness and excitement. But as the day went on, for reasons unimportant for the purposes of this post, I found myself unhappy, discouraged, and disappointed.
Have you ever found yourself unhappy or discouraged due to unmet expectations and things just not flowing in the way you want them to naturally flow?
To fight unhappiness I did and will continue to do a few things.
First, I look to Jesus. He's here. He has a purpose. He is calling me to draw near to him (James 4:8), to love him (Mark 12:30), and to commune with him. He is present with me all the time (Matt 28:20), even when I feel frustrated or discouraged.
Second, I try to fight sinful responses of sinful anger, bitterness, resentment, and being lazy. I felt those temptations today and tried to fight them off as they came. I doubt I was sinless in them all but I praise God for helping me fight sin, even as I pray, "bring me not into temptation but deliver me from the evil one."
Third, I count my blessings for the day. There were many blessings today: reflecting on the good time we had yesterday for the Lord's Day gatherings and our New Year's Eve hangout (pics below); memorizing Scripture and reviewing it with one of my kids; having a fresh 10 goals for the year that I hadn't had for a few years; seeing my mother/father-in-law and mom on facetime to greet them happy new year; texting my neighbors a new year's greeting and John 3:16-18 with the hope of a gospel seed planted, watered, or becoming regenerate life; time out with my two youngest girls and wife for dinner; my teens hanging with dearly loved and trusted church fam; my wife getting to go on a run; etc.
God is good to me in Christ all the time. Even in the times of discouragement, unhappiness, and frustration.