Start Here

L4L 52 – Psalm 73 – Dealing with Disillusionment

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Email

“I Don’t Get It”: Learning Contentment in Discouraging Times

Practical Steps to Conquer Your Discontentment and Discouragement

1.    He Ceased the emotional spiral – identify the feelings you are having – name them (vs. 14-15)

2.    He started to think about Community – focus on your responsibilities and relationships with God and others (vs.15-17a)

a.    Love Others – think about how you may be impacting others, consider God’s people, and then meet with God’s people

b.    Love God – Worship – reorientation of the mind and heart – worship is the place where the Holy Spirit continues to mold you into Christ’s image. 

  • “When people and/or circumstances are big, God is small”

3.    He had to come to a place of Clarity– evaluate the thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes underlying the feelings – Is there confused and chaotic thinking present? (vs. 16-20)

  •  Remember – “The Ends”

4.    He needed to come to a place of Confession (repentance) – sinful thoughts, words, attitudes, and actions need to be rejected and replaced (vs. 21-22) 

5.    He needed to be Confident – trust God/faith restored – remind yourself of His goodness, His sovereignty, and His providence (vs. 23-28) 

  • God-centered, Christ-centered (vs. 25)
    • In Heaven
    • On Earth

6.    He Clung to God – I will not leave you, because You are always at my side (vs. 23)

  • Cling to Him, hold fast to Him, and remember He is the one who will never let you go

7.    He was Counseled by God

  • Daily “counseling sessions” with the Holy Spirit

8.    He Committed his way to Him (vs. 24-28)

  • Obey regardless of how you feel – turn forcefully to Him

 “Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submit to and delight in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition” – Jeremiah Burroughs

______________________________________________________________________________ 

ABOUT JAMES AND LESSONS FOR LIFE 

Are you longing to find answers to the deeper issues of life? Join Dr. James Long, Jr., a pastor, counselor, and university professor with over 25 years of experience. Hear James as he tackles some of life’s biggest questions and helps us find God’s solutions to life’s struggles. Learn the power of living by God’s grace and for His glory. Experience the joy of forgiveness and freedom found in Jesus Christ alone. If you are on a search for freedom, you will love being part of this conversation. Subscribe, and enjoy the show! 

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Email

Related

Facebook Twitter Youtube

Get Updates

Gratitude journal

When was the last time someone said thank you to you? When was the last time you said thank you to someone else? So many people today struggle with a lack of thankfulness and ingratitude. This leads to struggles with complaining, criticizing, and comparing. Gratitude and thankfulness provide a powerful remedy for these problems. This gratitude journal helps us to identify what we should be grateful for and what we do as a result of seeing life as a gift.

God's grace prayer journal

Do you struggle with applying the truth that you learn during your study of God’s word? This God’s grace prayer journal will allow you to focus on gratitude and live in contentment in life. The journal pages encourage you to observe what you are learning from the Bible text, evaluate how you have failed to live according to the truths stated, seek forgiveness, and develop godly plans for change.

Giving hope

Do you struggle with the lack of hope? Do you find yourself struggling with doubt and insecurity during times of great challenge? During those times, you need to find your rest and assurance in pondering, personalizing, praying, and practicing what God’s Word says. In the short devotional, spend time meditating and studying each of these passages. Write down whatever comes to mind in the spaces below. And let God speak to you.

Discovering Godly patterns

One of the keys to growing in Christlikeness in our lives is to unearth and discover, and biblically evaluate our thinking patterns, speaking, and acting. This worksheet will help you be honest and specific about areas in your life that are not meeting biblical standards in thinking, speaking, and acting.

Counseling review journal

The God who began a good work in you will continue it through your lifetime and will finish it when we meet him face-to-face. God works for us, and God works in us. He enables us to become more like Christ every single day. This work is progressive and continual in this life. This worksheet helps us review and evaluate gains made during counseling and discipleship, show gratitude to God for what he has done, and develop plans for future growth and change.

Conflict review worksheet

There probably is not a day that goes by that we do not have some level of conflict with others. This worksheet helps us focus on the problem and not the person. It helps us evaluate how we have handled a dispute and how we should deal with it moving forward.

Bible study notes sheet

Do you ever struggle with doing a Bible study or journaling the key ideas from your reading? This Bible Study Note Sheet will encourage you to ponder and meditate on Scripture. Also, God’s Word is meant for you, so this worksheet will help you personalize what you are learning. It will also guide you in learning to pray God’s Word, and finally, it will encourage you to put into practice the principles and promises you find in reading the Word of God.

Anger journal

Anger is a significant issue for so many people. People often stuff or spew their anger, but very few learn to study their anger. This journal assignment will help you to do just that. It will help you understand, evaluate, and respond to your anger in better ways.

4 Steps to rethinking a problem

Do you ever find yourself getting overwhelmed with problems? Do you find yourself struggling with thinking clearly during a challenging situation? This four-step approach to rethinking a problem will help.

4P problem-solving approach worksheet

Problems can seem overwhelming. When we are in the midst of a significant crisis, many of us struggle with defining the problem and implementing helpful solutions. This worksheet helps us to identify three unbiblical and unproductive ways of handling problems. It also encourages us to destroy problems, not people, as we deal with issues in a biblical and God-honoring way.