I left feeling discouraged and deflated. It was one of those meetings with someone who wasn’t trying to provide constructive criticism out of love, they simply wanted to critique and attack. In those moments, you forget anything encouraging anyone has ever said, and you feel like you’ve only failed over and over. It’s tempting to give up because, after all, what’s the point when it all seems to be for nothing?
How can we endure such discouragement? How do we persevere when nothing seems to go right?
By beholding the majesty of God.
Deeper Roots
The amount of wind a tree can endure depends on the depth of its roots. Likewise, if our roots are shallow, we will not endure and we will give up as soon as our circumstances are less than ideal. Paul Tripp argues that our faithfulness to God should be rooted in something deeper than how we perceive our circumstances.
Our faithfulness must be rooted in worship. Tripp argues: “It is the awesome glory of God’s existence, character, plan, presence, promises, and grace that gives me reason to work hard and not give up, no matter whether we are in a ‘good’ season or one that is stormy.”1
Circumstances change, but the fount of God’s beauty and glory never dries up. It’s a constant source of worship for us to behold and helps us endure through seasons of drought when encouragement and motivation run dry.
Enduring Through Awe of God
Let’s face it, we’ve all experienced deserts of discouragement. We won’t always recognize how the Lord is working through us. We often feel like we are spinning our wheels to no avail, so we are tempted to grow weary of doing good. If our willingness to persevere relies on visible success, then sometimes we’ll simply want to throw in the towel. Our hope must be rooted in something deeper than what we can perceive with our senses. A faithful endurance that is driven by awe and worship of God provides continual motivation and encouragement no matter how bleak the circumstances look.
In other words, if we are driven by awe of God, we are not blown and tossed by every discouraging wind. Though we may often feel the temptation to give up, we look to the one who sustains us and then bask in his beauty. As we are confronted with his holiness, his goodness, his glory, then we have all the reason in the world to continue serving him.
When you feel tempted to give up, don’t look to circumstances for endurance, take time to revel in the glory of God and let it fuel you toward faithful obedience. Deep worship stirred by regular fellowship with God is the umbrella to keep us dry during rains of doubt.
“Driven by Awe” is a series that examines the practical implications of believers who regularly feast upon the glory of God and continually stand amazed by him. To see more in the series, click here.
- Dangerous Calling by Paul Tripp, 124 ↩︎
