Discouragement

What do you do when you are discouraged? I have now been asked that question 3 times over the past 36 hours. All of the comments were made in regard to our little church. Over the past 4 years we have been in a steady decline in attendance, participation, ownership, commitment and finances. We have a pretty solid core of about 40-50 people who rarely miss out on a Sunday morning gathering. We have about that many or maybe a bit more involved in our Life Groups on a faithful basis and we have a life group meeting every day of the week except Sunday's. We have new faith, we have pre faith, and we have immature, maturing and mature christians and ages ranging from 0 - 70 within the fellowship. However, over the past 3 months several long time attendees and others have left to find "greener pastures". Many have said that they love our church, they don't want to leave our church but they feel they must leave and often for "family" type reasons (at least that's the one they admit too). "Our kids need more"; "our youth need more"; "our children attend this other fellowship"; "some of our needs are not being met"; are the vast majority of statements used to describe why people are leaving. In most respects it is basically consumer driven not Holy Spirit driven. Also, the ghost of past success has never really left us alone. We used to have 230 on a regular basis to church; 60-70 children in Sunday School; 40-50 young people in our youth ministry. We used to have so much extra money that we wondered what God wanted us to do with it and now we can barely pay my salary. And so, discouragement seems to be the dominant conversation people are having over coffee with others. This tends to breed more and more discouragement and on and on it goes.
I have a pattern that I follow whenever I start to get that discouraged feeling. Mostly it starts with talking out-loud to myself and that usually while I am driving (or mowing the lawn). This is usually where I work out some of the angrier parts of my feeling of discouragement. Then after I do that I start to lay out the scenario as I perceive it in my mind to God. Then I begin asking the Lord for his perspective on the situation. Then I begin to praise him and seek the Lord to renew my mind, heart and emotions and bring me a refreshing sense of his power and Joy (strength).
I started this process many years ago while I was still in high school after I heard the story of David found in 1 Sam. 30:1-6. The families of David and his merry men had been taken captive by the Amelikites. They had attacked the city, burned it to the ground and took everyone in it captive while David and his men were off raiding the Philistines. When they got back you can imagine the horror, anger and discouragement of the men as they find that all that mattered most to them was gone. This slowly turned to blame and then quickly to rage against David as their leader. Then in verse 6 it records what David did, it says; 1 Sa 30:6 David was now in serious trouble because his men were very bitter about losing their wives and children, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the LORD his God.
Since hearing this I have made it a growing practice/discipline not to try and find strength in anything else except in the Lord. It seems clear to me that there really is no where else to turn to rid myself of discouragement. And, it is something that I can do several times a day if the need warrants it.
Maybe if you find yourself discouraged today this scripture can help you. The Word of God can help you find strength and courage to face whatever it is you are facing in the strength that the Lord wants to provide for you. What else is there to do with the nasty little beast called discouragement?