Why Discouragement Has No Place in a Catholic Man's Work
Hey, Discouragement, get out! You don't belong here. Scram!
I thought maybe that might work today. It's one of those days where nothing goes right, and it seems like I accomplished nothing.
I wanted to get "x" and "y" finished today, but "w" and "z" came up and took up all my time. I didn't really write out my plan for the day properly, so I was easily distracted. Besides, I want to be more successful. I want my business to grow more and it's not.
What? I know times are tough. But that's no excuse. I should be doing better than I am. And a day like I just had puts me farther behind the "8 ball."
Oh, and I didn't get to Mass today, even though I was literally on my way when "something came up." (What was that again? I can't remember.)
It's just the sort of day where discouragement creeps in and eventually (if I'm not careful) takes over.
Wait, what's this? I'm looking back now and see that "I" was everywhere all day: what I wanted, what I didn't do, what I should have done, etc. So where was God?
God wasn't anywhere in all this mess. I guess "I" just crowded Him out. He couldn't get a word in edgewise. Besides, the fact is I wasn't listening anyway.
Discouragement - and lots of other bad thoughts, feelings, attitudes - have a great old time messing things up when God's not around. If all I think about is myself, what's been wrong with "me," I've opened myself up to the flood of bad stuff that always seems to be sitting there just waiting to crash down on me.
On the other hand, if I had just spent a few minutes talking to God, just telling Him what's bothering me, maybe things could be different.
Let's try it.
Okay, so I missed Mass. That's in the past now. God you've got to just listen to what's going on. I need some sort of help, some guidance.
The end of this miserable day's coming. I'll just take a walk, out of sheer frustration. Hmm, sure enough, after about 20 minutes of frustrated walking, I thought of God. And I talked. I even talked about something I figured God wouldn't really have any quick answer for. And the more I talked, the more things cleared up. I managed to salvage the day a bit. And when two family issues came up after work, I was so much more attentive, so much more capable of listening and being helpful. I didn't even think about my rotten day!
Now, don't get me wrong. things aren't all that much better. Work problems don't disappear just because I talked to God. But they sure don't seem as monumentally terrible as they did before I talked to Him.
So whatever happens next, I'm ready. I'm going to talk to God right away when I start the day. I'm going to talk to Him from time to time during the day. And if things get off track, like they just did, I'm going to talk to Him the minute I feel that old discouragement try to stick his bony finger into my soul and take a hold.
God, do me a favor, if you would. Discouragement's starting to grab hold. Can you tell it to go away? Or maybe you could let me know how to just take it in stride so it can kind of pass through me, or something like that? You know, I'm open to whatever you say, whatever you suggest. The thing is, I really need your help. I can't do this by myself.
And somehow, someway God will help me through the day. And at the end of the day - even if things don't go just the way I wanted - discouragement won't have a place in my work anymore.
I thought maybe that might work today. It's one of those days where nothing goes right, and it seems like I accomplished nothing.
I wanted to get "x" and "y" finished today, but "w" and "z" came up and took up all my time. I didn't really write out my plan for the day properly, so I was easily distracted. Besides, I want to be more successful. I want my business to grow more and it's not.
What? I know times are tough. But that's no excuse. I should be doing better than I am. And a day like I just had puts me farther behind the "8 ball."
Oh, and I didn't get to Mass today, even though I was literally on my way when "something came up." (What was that again? I can't remember.)
It's just the sort of day where discouragement creeps in and eventually (if I'm not careful) takes over.
Wait, what's this? I'm looking back now and see that "I" was everywhere all day: what I wanted, what I didn't do, what I should have done, etc. So where was God?
God wasn't anywhere in all this mess. I guess "I" just crowded Him out. He couldn't get a word in edgewise. Besides, the fact is I wasn't listening anyway.
Discouragement - and lots of other bad thoughts, feelings, attitudes - have a great old time messing things up when God's not around. If all I think about is myself, what's been wrong with "me," I've opened myself up to the flood of bad stuff that always seems to be sitting there just waiting to crash down on me.
On the other hand, if I had just spent a few minutes talking to God, just telling Him what's bothering me, maybe things could be different.
Let's try it.
Okay, so I missed Mass. That's in the past now. God you've got to just listen to what's going on. I need some sort of help, some guidance.
The end of this miserable day's coming. I'll just take a walk, out of sheer frustration. Hmm, sure enough, after about 20 minutes of frustrated walking, I thought of God. And I talked. I even talked about something I figured God wouldn't really have any quick answer for. And the more I talked, the more things cleared up. I managed to salvage the day a bit. And when two family issues came up after work, I was so much more attentive, so much more capable of listening and being helpful. I didn't even think about my rotten day!
Now, don't get me wrong. things aren't all that much better. Work problems don't disappear just because I talked to God. But they sure don't seem as monumentally terrible as they did before I talked to Him.
So whatever happens next, I'm ready. I'm going to talk to God right away when I start the day. I'm going to talk to Him from time to time during the day. And if things get off track, like they just did, I'm going to talk to Him the minute I feel that old discouragement try to stick his bony finger into my soul and take a hold.
God, do me a favor, if you would. Discouragement's starting to grab hold. Can you tell it to go away? Or maybe you could let me know how to just take it in stride so it can kind of pass through me, or something like that? You know, I'm open to whatever you say, whatever you suggest. The thing is, I really need your help. I can't do this by myself.
And somehow, someway God will help me through the day. And at the end of the day - even if things don't go just the way I wanted - discouragement won't have a place in my work anymore.
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