Discouraged? Here's A Story For You.
Sep 14, 2020
"Discouragement is not from God ."
--Ignatius of Loyola
One day, the Devil laid out his gleaming, razor-edged tools upon a worn and ancient wooden table. He announced a "fire" sale and carefully marked the price upon each tool: ANGER: $100, RESENTMENT: $400, HATRED: $600, etc.
Each tool sold almost as quickly as it was placed upon the table. Toward the end of the day, a crooked old man in tattered rags approached. The man eyed the tools that remained, but was taken by a certain tool at the end of the table. The tool resembled the two long and bowed fangs of a viper. Its chrome-like pointy tusks caught the sun and sent flashes of blinding light everywhere. With one hand, the old man blocked his eyes from the glare and with the other, he reached for the tool. As he grabbed hold, the tool's steely, needle tips nearly pierced his hand. This seemed to please the old man. He snatched up the tool and held it to his chest. With a glint in his eye, the man asked the Devil, “How much for this one?”
“I’m sorry, that tool isn’t for sale,” the Devil replied.
Without hesitation, the man said, “But I’ll pay double.”
The Devil narrowed his eyes and hissed, “Sir, I’ve told you, that tool is not for sale, nor will I ever sell it. It is the most useful tool I own and without it, I wouldn't be half as effective in my work. With that tool alone, I can accomplish my every task. Now good day, sir.”
Dejected, the man looked once more at the shiny tool, then slowly placed it on the table. With almost a whisper, he said to the Devil, "If I can't buy it, would you, at least tell me its name?"
A slow and wicked grin grew across the Devil's face. "Of course, old man, its name is... Discouragement."
Perplexed, the old man wondered out loud, “Why is this tool so important to you?”
The devil responded, “It’s more useful to me than any of the others. When I can’t bring down my victims with the rest of my tools, I use discouragement, because so few people realize it belongs to me. Nothing paralyzes a person, nothing stops someone in their tracks like discouragement and hopelessness. Discouragement and hopelessness are no respecters of persons. They keep the unemployed unemployed. The homeless homeless. The sick sick. They can even draw the most powerful ministry to its knees. When overcome with discouragement and hopelessness, the person can’t pray, they can’t worship and they become a victim of their environment. Discouragement and hopelessness drains their victims of courage, vision, faith, expectation and the will to make a difference in the world. If I can get you discouraged and hopeless, then I have successfully neutralized you. You are left with only enough energy to feel sorry for yourself.”
Yes, discouragement is real, especially today. Let me give you some hope this morning. Consider the Law of Polarity. Simply put, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. There's hot and cold, positive and negative, destruction and creation, good and evil. Napoleon Hill puts it this way, "Every adversity, every failure and every heartache carries with it the seed of an equivalent or a greater benefit." If your life is bad now, this universal Law of Polarity tells us that good is coming. Look back on your own life...hasn't that happened to you before?
As a person of faith, I can rest in the promise that God is good and good will come out of the bad times. Yes, this has been proven in my life time after time. Dennis and I viewed his cancer in 1995 as tragic and it turned out to be one of our greatest blessings! Although, during that time we certainly couldn't see much good. Maybe I'll share that story another time. God was working in the background during that setback, and God doesn't change. He's always conspiring for our good.
I don't know what you are going through at this time. If it's a hard season for you, I am not making light of your adversity at all. In fact, I would be happy to walk with you or pray for you during this time--just reach out to me. Be encouraged, because in the words of Abe Lincoln, "this too shall pass." And like Dennis and I with his cancer, you will be stronger for it.
Hopefully typed,
Jan
Jan McDonald
John Maxwell Team
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