HOW TO ENCOURAGE YOURSELF

Were beginning a new series today on Loving the Life You Live.

Dont you love those times in life when you are really enjoying Gods blessings and
experiencing Gods joy? Dont you just love it when you love the life you live?

Then there are those other times, times when life is challenging, when its drudgery
and hard work. When you have to search for happiness.

It is commonly reported that depression affects 16-18 million Americans each year!
Were not talking about a rainy day feeling; were talking about a serious condition.

It ought to concern all of us that so many people have a difficult time enjoying life. And
we dont need to judge depressed people. Any number of things can weigh a person
down to the point that they lose hope. And even those of us who arent depressed have
to admit that there are times when we struggle with maintaining happiness.

The good news is that Gods Word gives you insights into your human condition and
offers you tremendous help to deal with your battle to stay encouraged!

The Scriptures teach that God intends for you to enjoy life! You dont have to let lifes
challenges overwhelm you. God wants to help you face life with confidence and
enthusiasm! He wants you to be encouraged and He wants you to experience a happy
life!

Im not preaching that you wont experience any trouble if you follow Christ. Im saying

God wants to help you stay encouraged in spite of your trouble.

There are many verses of Scripture that teach that God wants you to have joy and
enjoy life. Let me remind you of a couple. We could read many others.

"Godrichly gives us all we need for our enjoyment." 1 Timothy 6:17b (NLT)

You dont have to feel guilty about enjoying Gods blessings. Thats what He gives
them to you for!

And in John 10:10 (NLT), Jesus said, "I came to give life -- life in all its fullness."

If were going to experience Gods joy and fullness were going to have to overthrow the
things that compete for our love for life, things like doubt, fear and guilt.

So were going to open this new series today on "Loving the Life You Live" by first of all
learning what the Bible says about "How to Encourage Yourself."

I want to talk to you over the next several weeks on issues like believing in yourself and
forgiving yourself and loving yourself but were going to begin by learning how you can
encourage yourself in God.

Today were just going to lay some foundational principles, some general principles on
Loving Life. It starts with being able to handle the rough spots. What do you do when
dark days confront you? How do you stay encouraged?

Perhaps no one in the entire Bible is a greater example of being able to encourage
himself in God than David. When you read some of his Psalms you are amazed that he
starts writing a song while hes discouraged and ends the same song encouraged! He
learned how to see the light in dark days.

Were going to check out a few pages of Davids biography from a time when it was
hard for him to love life. Were going to consider one particular incident when megastress confronted David, one day when problems piled up even before solutions to his
previous problems presented themselves.

Let me set the stage for you. David is running from his own King, Saul, who is envious
of him, hunting him down to kill him. Saul is so eaten up with envy and paranoia that
he mistakenly thinks David is trying to steal his throne. So he tries to take Davids life
on several occasions.

David has to flee to the nation of the Philistines, enemies of Israel, where he and his
soldiers fight for the Philistines as mercenaries. But one day the Philistines go to fight
the Israelites and David and his army are sent home. When they arrived at their
temporary home in Ziklag they find that the Amalekites, a band of marauders, have
raided their town, burnt their homes to the ground and taken their wives and children
hostage.

David and his men were already tired and hungry. They thought they were coming
home to the welcome and warmth of their families, to rest and food, but instead, they
come home to a shocking scene of emptiness, desolation and loss. These strong
warriors, these grown men, were so overwhelmed by their sorrow that the Bible says,

"Then David and the men with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no
more strength to weep." 1 Samuel 30:4 (Amp)

Man was that ever a sad day! It was a bad day. It was hard to love life on that day.
These strong men cried until they couldnt cry any more.

Perhaps youve had days like that, days when the sun refused to shine, days when
your heart ached so violently that you wished you could imagine yourself to be
someone else and somewhere else.

But wait; though it doesnt seem possible, things get even worse for David! Pick up the
story in 1 Samuel 30:6a (Amp).

"David was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because the souls of
them all were bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters."

These men look around at whats left of their homes smoldering on the ground and as
the smoke rises from the ashes so does their hurt and anger. They need an outlet for
their emotions and they choose to take things out on their leader.

This was one of the most difficult situations imaginable. Away from his real home,
chased by a mentally ill king, living like a vagabond, forced to side with the enemy, and
now his own men speak of mutiny by making him a scapegoat for their misery and
threaten to kill him.

I want you to sense the desperation of this dark chapter in Davids life. One reason I
want you to sense it is to know that you are not alone when you face feelings of
desperation. This was rock bottom for David. This was the end of the rope. This was
heartbreak hotel. David had nobody. His family wasnt there to console him and his
associates lost their grip to the point they want to kill him.

Most people would have been totally overwhelmed by this turn of events. Most would
have thrown in the towel. But in one of the most dramatic 180-degree-turns in history
the Bible says this in 1 Samuel 30:6b (Amp).

"But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God."

This is one of the many reasons youve got to love the Word of God! This is why youve
got to love being a child of God and if youre not a child of God why you ought to
become one!

Even in lifes darkest days there is hope! There is a source of encouragement! You
dont have to believe the circumstances and what they look like when you can believe
instead that God is going to work things out somehow!

David became so encouraged and so strengthened in the Lord that he rallied his
troops and went after the Amalekites, whipped them soundly, and recovered every
family member safe and sound that had been taken captive!

Its one of the most dramatic instances of a personal turnaround anywhere and the
Word of God gives us the key insight into how it was achieved.

"David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God."

Just exactly how did he do that? How can you do it? When youre handed a startling
scenario of alarming proportions how do you not only maintain your equilibrium, but
also become so strong, so courageous, that you take off after the enemy, even though
youre weak and hungry and tired, and whip that enemy soundly? How do you
encourage yourself in God to be a winner when everyone and everything around you
sounds out the message that youre a loser?

When even your family and friends arent willing or able to encourage you which is
the precise situation David was in how do you encourage yourself in God?

Im a fairly optimistic person by temperament but I want to tell you its tough staying
optimistic sometimes! Perhaps you can identify with David like I can.

And God wants you to identify with David, not only in his sorrow but also in his
breakthrough!

Here are some practical pointers from this story on how to encourage your self in God.

1. PUT WORSHIP BEFORE WARFARE.

David is well known as a mighty man of warfare. His legendary entry into armed
combat takes place against a giant named Goliath. With a sling, and the experience of
protecting his fathers flocks against predators like lions and bears, David defeats the

monster of a man in front of him.

Its an astounding victory. The soldiers in both the Philistine army and the Israelite
army view the spectacle in disbelief. A little shepherd boy with a sling and one small
stone from the bed of a brook fells the blasphemous emissary of the enemy.

And when David knocks the hulk of a hero down with his projectile he then confiscates
the giants sword and cuts his head off with his own weapon. The Israelites soldiers
cheer and rout the Philistines as they flee in fear for their lives.

After that David joins Sauls army and becomes so well known as a warrior that they
sing songs about him.

But dont miss the point of Davids entire life.

Before anything else David was a first rate worshipper. Here, in our text today, David
didnt just get angry and stomp off to battle against the Amalekites to reclaim is family
and property. He paused to spend time with God.

You will find this is the most important principle in all of your life! You will find that
spending time with God is your first priority if you are to stay encouraged in the midst of
the demands of life.

Its your first priority for more reasons than that. You need to spend time with God
every day because He made you. He created you to worship Him. He deserves your
worship. He is worthy of your time and attention. Your struggles are not the center of

your life. And even though were talking in this series about enjoying life your joy is
not to be the center of your life God is to be the center of your life!

Youre going to have to fight for your place in life sometimes. But before you fight, you
need to find time for God.

Can you imagine a soldier marching off to war without proper training, without having
proper weaponry and ammunition, without being part of a master battle plan? A soldier
without those things is bound to fail. But a prepared soldier is a victorious soldier. And
your preparation for spiritual warfare is time spent with God!

The second practical pointer for encouraging your self in God is:

2. ASK GOD FOR DIRECTION.

After David spent time with God listen to what he did next that brought encouragement
into his life.

"David said to Abiathar the priest, Bring me the holy vest. 8 Then David asked the
Lord, Should I chase the people who took our families? Will I catch them? The Lord
answered, Chase them. You will catch them, and you will succeed in saving your
families. 1 Samuel 30:7 (NCV)

The priest wore the "holy vest" to symbolize the presence of God. David was
symbolically going into the presence of God, and, in some way we no longer
understand, the vest might even have been used to determine Gods will.

But the point is, David was asking God what to do. Talk about getting good advice!
David wasnt about to go off half-cocked, not having consulted with God. Instead he
was going to leave for battle confidently, knowing the will of God.

First he regained his composure by worshipping God. Now he makes his plans by
consulting God.

If you start off worshipping God thats great, but dont forget to follow Gods instructions
if you want to stay encouraged.

Sometimes we get the worship part right but stress gets us so disoriented that we
forget to ask God for direction. Big mistake. We need to know what God wants us to
do, not what our human nature dictates, not what others say, but what God says. Look
at where the Bible says our joy comes from in times of stress.

"As pressure and stress bear down on me, Ifind joy in your commands." Psalm
119:143 (NLT)

Your joy in times of trouble is not going to come from the conclusions you draw on your
own its going to come from the commands God has given you. You need to find out
what God tells you to do and then do it!

Just two chapters of Scripture previous from this story of Davids trial and success is
different story of someone trying to find out what to do in a tough spot.

King Saul was getting ready to go to war and the prophet Samuel who had guided him
so many times before was recently deceased. So do you know what Saul did? He
received advice by consulting with a psychic.

"Saul said to his servants, Find me a woman who is a medium so I may go and ask
her what will happen. His servants answered, There is a medium in Endor." 1 Samuel
28:7 (NCV)

King Saul, against his own laws for the rest of the nation, disguises himself and goes
to Endor to ask a psychic for direction. How sad. Saul was so far from God that the
only way he had heard from God in the past was through the prophet Samuel. In
desperation he goes to the wrong place for advice. The channel conjures up the spirit
of the deceased prophet Samuel in order to give Saul advice.

Or was it really Samuel?

Now there are two possibilities. One, she was able by demonic power to bring
Samuels spirit to the sance with Saul. I personally doubt that but there are others
who think this is what actually happened. I think God is the only one who has power
over the whereabouts of our spirits. Although I do believe demonic spirits are often
involved in the work of psychics.

The second possibility is that the spirit was not Samuels. Either a demon was
masquerading as Samuel or the woman was a good ventriloquist and faked the
appearance of Samuel.

The Hebrew word for medium literally means "a water bottle." Thats right, a water
bottle, because of the sound made when one blows over the opening to a water bottle.
Its a hollow sound; some people believe a ghostly sound, whatever a ghost is
supposed to sound like.

A lot of people parading around giving advice are only using smoke and mirrors.
Theyre tricking and deceiving people by deceptive magic like Elymas the
wizard/magician in Acts 13 who tried to keep a government official from coming to
Christ on the island of Cyprus on Pauls first missionary journey.

Consider what Paul said to this charlatan.

"You master in every form of deception and recklessness, unscrupulousness, and

wickedness, you son of the devil, you enemy of everything that is upright and good, will
you never stop perverting and making crooked the straight paths of the Lord and
plotting against His saving purposes?" Acts 13:10 (Amp)

Elymas was then struck with blindness and the government official he was hindering
came to God.

Satans purpose in offering other forms of counsel is to keep you from coming to God
for direction! Dont fall for it!

There are only two types of advice: godly advice and ungodly advice. And the Bible
promises blessing for NOT following ungodly advice.

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly." Psalm 1:1a

You must opt for godly advice if you want to stay encouraged. Ungodly advice will only
mess up your thinking and eventually lead to more misery.

If you want to encourage yourself in God ask God for direction.

Another practical pointer for encouraging yourself in God as seen in this chapter of
Davids life:

3. TREAT OTHERS FAIRLY.

What does that have to do with encouraging your self in God?

A lot of times when your life gets hairy youre tempted to do what Davids troops did.
Youre tempted to take it out on someone else. Misery loves company. Youre in the pit
of despair and instead of spending time with God and asking Him what to do you do
the stupid thing. Youre hurting so you hurt someone else. Hurt people hurt people.

Now what happens after the crisis passes and you have time to reflect on having
behaved badly toward someone else because you were in pain?

Now you have another problem. You have to mend the fences you took down in your
anger and your pain. So do yourself a favor, when troubles come be aware of your self
AND behave yourself.

David was aware of this principle when he left to hunt down the Amalekites that had
taken his family. Two hundred men in his army of 600 were so tired they couldnt go on.
So he let them rest. He didnt browbeat them into riding on. He told them to stay with
the stuff. And when he returned with the spoils of battle he gave them an even portion
with the 400 who fought the battle.

This even became a rule in Israel after that point. If you went off to battle and someone
else kept the stuff you had to share the spoils of the battle with the ones who stayed
with the supplies even if they didnt fight.

David, encouraged in God, behaved like God.

Dark days can be real tests of your behavior. And if you want to encourage yourself in
God you need to act like God would act. Express kindness toward others. Love them in
spite of their failures. Dont take your anger and frustration out on them.

David would face more challenges in life after this incident. But the key to staying
encouraged in life is to walk with God and live according to Gods instructions. When
you deviate from that you will lose your joy.