How has your new year started? Are you still living each day with joy and anticipation or are you already weighed down by the trials and tribulations in life? Have you been betrayed by a friend? Or perhaps ridiculed by people you thought supported you? Or have you been misunderstood lately? What about the demands of your family? Is it overwhelming? And are you feeling unappreciated for a job well done by your family or boss?
The trials and tribulations are inevitable in life and we cannot change them. However we can choose NOT to respond in discouragement. Romans 15:4 says that "for everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."(NIV) When we read the accounts of people with similar problems as ours in God's Word, we begin to understand the character of God and learn how He worked in their situations. The more we know God and appreciate who He is, the more we are encouraged and have the endurance to press on. God provides support and encouragement through His Word in all our trials and tribulations.
Let's take the situation of being unappreciated for a job well done coupled with someone else getting the recognition instead. Being passed over for a promotion at the workplace would be a classic example. Our natural reaction to this situation is to cry injustice. We no longer have joy in what we do. We are discouraged. Thoughts of looking for another job dominate our mind.
Before we continue in our discouragement, read the book of Esther in the Old Testament. Mordecai, one of the major characters in the book, went through a similar situation. He unfolded a conspiracy to kill King Ahasuerus and saved the king's life. However no one noticed, thanked him, or rewarded him for his noble deed. On the other hand, the shady Haman, an enemy of the Jews, was promoted in the king's court. At this point Mordecai could have demanded justice, but he did not complain nor became discouraged. Instead, he continued to do what he was called to do because he walked closely with God and knew God.
Mordecai's story did not end there. A recounting of Mordecai's noble deed in saving the king's life was read to King Ahasuerus. (Esther 6) Subsequently, the king rewarded Mordecai. In addition, Mordecai's action in saving the king's life spared his own life later when Haman sought to kill him.
Hebrews 6:10 also reassures us that "...God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and still ministering to the saints." As in the case of Mordecai, it seemed that no one noticed in the beginning what Mordecai did, but God noticed and did not forget. In His wisdom and perfect timing, Mordecai received his reward which was a far greater blessing than if Mordecai received it immediately after the fact. (Read the rest of the book of Esther to find out the greater blessing.)
Likewise for us, we can choose not to respond in discouragement thinking that all is lost when we missed the appreciation and or promotion. Instead, be encouraged to continue to do what we are called to do, because God notices. He does not forget and He rewards us in due time, either on earth or heaven. For many of us, hindsight may reveal that the job we are offered later is so much better than the promotion we missed.
God is the Master Encourager and He encourages us personally through His Word. Let us therefore, spend time daily knowing God through His Word and learn how He works so that we can walk through the inevitable trials and tribulations in life with encouragement.