By Jeff Cranston

(Part 1 of a two-part series)

Did you know that there is a plague sweeping the country today? I’m not talking about COVID-19. This outbreak can be just as dangerous in many ways, however. It’s called the epidemic of discouragement.

Discouragement is a recurring, highly contagious condition. We all have been discouraged at one time or another and over and over again. It spreads by casual contact. People can become disheartened because you are discouraged. You can be bummed out because other people are discouraged. So what causes discouragement? Read Nehemiah 4:1-23.

External causes of discouragement

In this passage from Nehemiah, the wall workers were initially excited. They began the work with great anticipation and joy. Things were going well, the people were excited, and the wall was going up.

Getting the work started on the wall was a major achievement, but keeping the workers working proved to be a much tougher assignment. Where God is at work, the enemy is also at work. Rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem was no exception to this. When people take kingdom priorities seriously, Satan stirs up agitators to block the work of God. These enemies used two types of external forces: 

1. The external force of ridicule. “Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry and mocked the Jews” (Nehemiah 4:1). Sanballat was Nehemiah’s stiffest opposition. He and his cronies had begun to ridicule the workers even before the work started. Tobiah also ridiculed the workers when he tried out a joke on them, “…if even a fox should jump up on it, he would break their stone wall down!” (Nehemiah 4:3) The workers became the punch line of every joke, and everyone got a laugh at their expense.

Whenever you are walking with God, involved in ministry, witnessing to others for Jesus, there will be times when you will face ridicule. Expect it and don’t stop working; allowed its way, it ushers in discouragement.

2. The external force of suppression. In Nehemiah 4:8, the enemies have moved from being bothered by the Jews to being very angry. They plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. Commentator Warren Wiersbe writes, “God’s people sometimes have difficulty working together, but the people of the world have no problem uniting in opposition to the work of the Lord.”

Internal causes of discouragement

Pressures from without often create problems within. It wasn’t the voice of the enemy that was the most pervasive; it was the voice of God’s own people. And, just like today, it’s so easy to internalize the words of the enemy and feel like giving up. Notice Nehemiah 4:10: “Thus in Judah it was said, ‘The strength of the burden bearers is failing, yet there is much rubbish; and we ourselves are unable to rebuild the wall.’”

Discouragement started first within the royal tribe of Judah. What caused their discouragement? Well, some of the same things that cause ours:

Fatigue: Simply put, the workers were tired. They were hitting it hard and needed some rest. When you are physically drained, it is very easy to become discouraged at the slightest problem. Remember what God did when Elijah was tired: He sent an angel to give him some bread and something to drink and then he went back to sleep. You cannot burn the candle at both ends on a long-term basis. Sometimes the most spiritual thing to do is to go to bed.

Frustration: In Nehemiah 4:10, the workers become discouraged because they were so aggravated with the situation. I’m sure they were encountering old broken rocks, dirt and dried-out mortar, and other debris that was underfoot. This junk was everywhere. And it was frustrating.

What rubbish or rubble are you dealing with these days? The rubbish of the news? The rubble of a relationship that you thought was in pretty good shape, but the lock-down proved otherwise? Have you started drinking again? Or just started drinking too much to deal with the current reality? Are you involved in something else that’s been tripping you up? Something you’ve been doing in secret that you think no one else knows about? As the writer to Hebrews says, “Throw it off so you don’t get tripped up.”

Fear: The enemies of the Lord’s work had struck fear in the hearts of God’s people, and they felt like giving up. Remember what they said in verse 10: “We are unable to rebuild the wall.” Then in Nehemiah 4:12, we discover those who became fearful the quickest: “When the Jews who lived near then came and told us 10 times, ‘They will come up against us from every place where you may turn … ’”  

Those most affected by fear are those who live near pessimistic people. If you want to limit the depressing thoughts that bring fear into your life, then it’s best to not hang around with negative people.

Fear puts us in a frame of mind where we cannot only become discouraged, we can also be deceived. I don’t want to spoil the ending, but if you read the rest of the book, the enemies never do attack Jerusalem!

Is discouragement curable?

I’ve got great news! Let me tell you definitively that discouragement is a curable disease. You don’t have to live with a chronic condition anymore! In part 2 of this blog post, we will take a look at three cures for discouragement.

Jeff Cranston is the lead pastor of LowCountry Community Church in Bluffton, S.C.

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