Remember & Relax

2 Corinthians 12:¹⁰ “…I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.” (MSG)

You are empowered to defeat discouragement when you Never Forget How Much God Loves You, when you Do Not Fake It, and when you Remember It Is Not About You. When someone praised me, I look up because it is not about me. It is about Him. Guess what?  When someone criticizes me, I look up. It is not about me; it is about Him. This is the pattern of my life that I am opening up to you today. If you do not know how to do that, how to ‘look up’, you are going to become petty and harbour bitterness because you think it is about you. It is not about you! When someone misjudges me, I look up because it is not about me. It is all about Him.

Even when someone disagrees with me, I look up. It is not about me; it is about Him. Can you take someone, anyone disagreeing with you? People who cannot handle other people disagreeing with them have a big problem. They easily get discouraged, become filled with pride, fear, and bitterness. It is not about you! It is about Him! Someone ignores you in a zoom meeting, they asked everyone to contribute. But nobody asked for your contribution, and you are hurt. My brother, my sister, you have a big problem. I pray that today Jesus will set you free (say Amen). Today, as you remember that it is not about you, Jesus will set you free. Do you get discouraged when you focus on yourself? You need to ask yourself why. Why always determines how long. Why am I doing, what I am doing, always determines how long I do it.

Paul’s fourth secret for defeating discouragement is, Relax In Your Limitations. You get discouraged when you try to be superman or superwoman. You are limited. For instance, you will never ever get more than twenty-four hours in a day. It is not going to happen. You cannot  fix everybody’s problem. Try it. You cannot please everybody. Try it. You have limitations. Some people will just not like you, and you have to be okay with that. It is life. You cannot be in more than one place at a time. Try it. Maybe via video, but you still cannot be physically in more than one place at a time. You cannot spend more money than you have. If you try it, you discover what they call debt. And you will become discouraged and under pressure.

You have to admit your limitations as a human being. God is God and I am not. You have to relax in your limitations. Anytime you do not live within the limitation of your life, you are going to get discouraged. Pastor, are we not supposed to be limitless? We are limitless in our limitations.

Prayer: Father, I will never forget how much You love me. I will not fake it. I relax in my limitations because it is not about me. It is all about You, in Jesus Name. Amen!