so you are discouraged

Well, I could read it in your face. I have wondered what it was. Now I know. You are discouraged.

I am so sorry that you feel this way. Unfortunately, I think that everyone feels this way at one time or another. There are mountaintops and there are valleys. That is just the way it is.

Some Christian people make the mistake of thinking that they should always "feel" a certain way. They experience something for the first time and it takes them to the mountain top. They go on a retreat or are touched by worship at church. But after a while, life takes it's toll and they don't feel that mountaintop feeling anymore. Discouragement sets in. Sometimes people think things like, "something is wrong with me" or "something is wrong with my church." As if it is the job of the church to keep you on the mountaintop. As if it were possible for us to always be on the mountaintop.

True spirituality is not measured by the mountaintop feeling. Great men and women of God met God in the valleys. In despair, on a cross, by the well, at a tomb, people find God in the Bible in the deepest places of pain. True spirituality is staying the course when you feel that God, or the church, or some leader at church has let you down. It is learning that spirituality is not even about me getting to feel the way that I want to feel. It is rooted in a long term relationship with our Father.

You don't throw away your spouse just because things feel differently. You don't quit your job because you aren't having fun anymore. You don't give up on God just because you feel discouraged.

Weeping lasts for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Keep your chin up. Stay the course. Nothing has changed, you just feel differently. Trust in God. Reengage. He is waiting for you to pick up the mantle of love. Sometimes discouragement will flee when we reach out in love to others. It is in giving that we receive.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.