Starting Right
Starting Right is a 5 minute Day Starter to help keep you motivated, encouraged, and focused throughout your day. DannyMac is a pastor, teacher, motivational speaker, husband, and father. His years of leading and training people have given him vast experience in helping individuals to accomplish change in their lives and meet their goals. He can help you set the course for your day by offering practical advice from God's Word in a positive and fun way. There is no better way to begin your day than by Starting Right with DannyMac.
Starting Right
Faith Doesn't Mean Never Getting Discouraged; It Means Never Staying There
Have you ever felt so discouraged that even getting out of bed seemed impossible? We all face seasons when disappointment and setbacks crush our spirits. Today's devotional explores how to move forward when everything inside you wants to give up.
The remarkable story of Nehemiah offers a powerful blueprint for battling discouragement. As a Jewish exile serving in the Persian king's court, Nehemiah learned his homeland lay in ruins—Jerusalem's walls destroyed and his people demoralized. Instead of accepting this reality, he embarked on what seemed impossible: rebuilding both the physical walls and the broken spirit of a nation.
What walls have crumbled in your life? Whether you're facing relationship breakdown, career setbacks, health challenges, or spiritual drought, these timeless principles provide a pathway forward. Remember, experiencing discouragement doesn't mean your faith is weak—it means you're human. But like Nehemiah, you don't have to remain discouraged. God stands ready to help you rebuild what seems irreparably broken.
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac. I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back, relax and let me help you start your day right. Today I want to talk about discouragement. We all face it. We all struggle with it. Sometimes the discouragement is something minor that we can overcome quickly in a few days, but other times we get discouraged because there seems to be no end. It's a major issue and during those times it can be especially hard to maintain our faith, to believe that God is able and wanting to do something. So today I want to talk about someone who had to deal with the discouragement of an entire nation. In fact, he took it upon himself to rebuild some of the pride in his country. I'm talking about Nehemiah. There's an entire book in the Old Testament named after him and in fact you can read that book in about an hour. It covers our entire story today, which we are going to summarize very quickly here this morning.
Speaker 1:The nation of Israel had been conquered by Persia. Many of the young men and women from Israel had been taken to the capital city of Susa. While there, nehemiah found out about the destruction of the walls of the city of Jerusalem and how discouraged all the people of Jerusalem and Israel were at that time. So he decided that he was going to rebuild those walls. He approached the king of Persia, who gave permission in fact agreed to supply some of the material and off Nehemiah went to rebuild these walls. He arrived in Jerusalem, saw how bad the destruction was and began to round up people to try and help him rebuild it. There were many people who were so discouraged and so against it that they didn't even want to help him build it again. In fact, he ran into a lot of problems along the way, and there were many who tried to discourage him even more so badly, in fact, that he would just quit and give up and not continue with his quest. But Nehemiah didn't do that. So let me share with you this morning what Nehemiah did that kept him from getting so discouraged that he would ever quit. The first thing he did and we all need to do when we're discouraged was he turned to God. He prayed fervently, asking for help and guidance in his task. He recognized that he could not do it alone and that he needed divine intervention to overcome it all, and by turning to God, nehemiah was able to find the strength and the courage to overcome all of the obstacles that he was going to face.
Speaker 1:The second step was Nehemiah had a clear plan for how he was going to rebuild the walls. He did not let discouragement or fear stop him from taking action, even though many people tried to stop him. He surveyed the area, he gathered the resources and he rallied the people together to work towards a common goal. Having a plan helped Nehemiah stay focused and motivated, even when the opposition was high and the task seemed impossible. The third thing he did was he stayed focused on the end goal.
Speaker 1:Nehemiah did not get distracted by the challenges he faced along the way. He remained steadfast in his faith and committed to his mission of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. He did not let discouragement or setbacks stop him from achieving his goal. The fourth thing he did was he trusted in God's timing. Nehemiah did not rush the rebuilding process. He understood that it would take time and he trusted in God's timing. He did not let his impatience or frustration get in the way of his faith. Instead, he remained patient and he persevered, knowing that God was with him every step of the way. The final thing he did was he surrounded himself with people who supported him. This team of people worked with him towards the common goal of rebuilding the walls. He did not let the negativity or discouragement of anyone stop him from achieving his goal, and he made sure that he had people around him who believed in him, in his mission and what he was trying to do. You know for all of us, having faith in times of discouragement can be challenging, but it is possible.
Speaker 1:Let's take another quick look at what Nehemiah did. He asked God what to do and how to act, and so God was involved from the very beginning. Nehemiah made sure that he had a plan For us, that's, finding a way to move forward in the midst of our challenges. He also stayed focused on what he wanted the end result to be. He didn't get sidetracked. He didn't let other things get in the way. He made sure he knew what the goal was and that he was focused on it always. He trusted God's timing. He didn't get impatient. He didn't believe that God had abandoned him or left him behind. He trusted God's timing in everything.
Speaker 1:Then he made sure that he brought people around him to support him, and this is a step that we often miss. We need to have people around us who will support us, who will encourage us, who will understand what we're going through and are willing to be there beside us through our journey. We probably will face times of discouragement in our lives, but we don't have to stay discouraged. We have a God who loves us and wants to help us and wants to be involved. So if you're facing some discouragement today, I want you to know that God loves you, he is with you and he will help you, and maybe we can all learn from some of the things that Nehemiah did. I hope you have a great day, my friends. We will talk again tomorrow. Thank you for listening today and I invite you to join me Monday to Friday, right here on Starting Right with Danny Mac.
