A quick review of articles mentioning the word “discouragement”
in recent editions of The Christian Science Monitor include stories on church,
politics, sport, and home. Murr Brewster’s hilarious April
16, 2025 story about hiding behind her undiscouraged hedge, includes this graphic paragraph:
The
big side yard was bordered on two sides by a sprawling laurel hedge with
Godzilla’s own ambition. It didn’t grow so much as it reared up. I caught one
neighbor pouring used motor oil underneath the hedge, but that did nothing to
discourage the thing. Within a year it was a threat to migrating geese.
But,
discouragement is not usually funny. It can become entrenched, and it can show up at inconvenient
times. It may need some wrestling to be replaced by hope and encouragement.
The prophet Zechariah
had the tough job of encouraging a discouraged nation. How did he do it? My KJV
study Bible’s book of Zechariah opens with this telling paragraph
Zechariah
prophesied to a group of discouraged Israelites, announcing that it was a new
day for God’s chosen people. He sought to inspire those who had returned from
captivity to rebuild the temple and rededicate their lives to the Lord. The
message of encouragement involved surrealistic visions and vivid poetic images,
focused on a reversal of God’s judgment, and called for a reversal of the
people’s behavior.
Zechariah knew the way forward wasn’t going to be easy. It
would require work, diligent work involving a reassessment of how people
conducted their everyday lives.
Chapter
One sets the pace:
v.
3 “… ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Return to me, and I will
return to you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.’…”
v.
8 “In a vision during the night, I saw a man sitting on a red horse that was
standing among some myrtle trees in a small valley. Behind him were riders on
red, brown, and white horses.
v.
9 I asked the angel who was talking with
me “My lord, what do these horses mean?”
v.
10 The rider standing among the myrtle
trees then explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent out to patrol the
earth.”
v.
11 Then the other riders reported to
the angel of the Lord, who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have been
patrolling the earth, and the whole earth is at peace.”
v.
16 …“My Temple will be rebuilt…”
v.
18 Then I looked up and saw four animal
horns.
v.
19 What are these? I asked the angel
who was talking with me. He replied, “These horns represent the nations that
scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
Those
words are quite encouraging. Angel messages always are.
One writer
has shared the following:
Discouragement should
never be admitted into consciousness on any pretext. It is never a part of good
and can never be made to serve any legitimate end. It is always a harbinger of
evil and never a messenger of good, and for that reason it should not be listened
to or believed in by anyone who places his trust in the triumph of good. James
Noble Hatch, The Christian Science Journal March 1918 “Overcoming Discouragement”
James
Montgomery’s words from hymns 77, 78 touch the heart of the matter:
Place on the Lord
reliance; / My heart, with courage wait; / His truth be thine affiance, / When
faint and desolate: / His might thy heart shall strengthen, / His love thy joy
increase; / Thy day shall mercy lengthen: / The Lord will give thee peace.
(Christian Science Hymnal 77:2)
Julie Swannell
