The Dejection Antidote

I was faced this week with a choice regarding dejection and discouragement. I could either choose to partner with it, or I could choose to partner with heaven. I needed to choose to give myself the dejection antidote.

There’s a situation in my professional life that has been a bit of a downer and challenge on and off the past 6 months. I feel God challenging me and stretching me to go to the next level, but it’s been something that I’ve needed to make declarations about, practice thankfulness to Him for His faithfulness and dream bigger during. He’s wanting to take me from glory to glory, but my belief in myself and what He can do in and through me is needing to go to the next level to be able to carry this next realm of His glory.

This week I was feeling especially strange about this situation that I’m wanting to change and move forward from. You know, that feeling of pressure on you that you know isn’t supposed to be there; it feels both irritating and a bit heavy. One minute I felt sad then irritated the next. I feel I’ve done all that I can in the area, and now it’s up to God. My emotions have been on a serious roller coaster the first part of this week. Not the way I know that I’m supposed to be living life. In reality, the situation in my professional life is just wooing me to walk into a place of greater faith and trust. Why does it feel so hard sometimes when God’s always been so faithful in every area?

Can anyone relate?

I remember having the same feeling when I was single and had gone through a time where I was believing right, trusting God and taking actions to move forward but still not seeing the breakthrough into a marriage relationship that I desired and that I knew God desired for me.

I believe that these moments and times in our lives are crucial. They define what we really believe about God. They are inviting us into a deeper more vulnerable and intimate relationship with our loving Father. These are the moments or seasons that are literally inviting us to step out onto the water and walk with Jesus. As one of my favorite worship songs by Hillsong right now states, “You’ve called me out on the waters, the great unknown…and there I find you in the mystery, in oceans deep my faith will stand….Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters wherever you would call me.”

So, there was only one good choice this week to turn this weird place of discouragement around; it needed to become a radical place of praise and thanksgiving. I call these places weird because they are outside of my actual nature in Christ.

I have a more reserved personality, but there are times when I get very excited and animated. My intimate times with God many times, though will include thankfulness and declarations in our special, intimate and mostly quiet way. I knew that I needed to take more intentional and passionate ground in my heart and mind this week because of the depth of this situation in my emotions. The level of this place of discouragement needed an equal level of praise and thanksgiving to overtake it.

So, I took action. I decided to give myself a big shot of the dejection antidote.

The shot always includes an intense praise and thanksgiving session in my living room with God (because it’s bigger than my bedroom) that includes unbridled dancing, Tigger jumping (thanks Steve Backlund!), intense laughter, some needed tears (my emotions sweating), and some loud shouting that could possibly scare the neighbors and my sweet little papipoo. This shot is sometimes needed to bring the reality of heaven crashing into the little world of discouragement that I have created in my mind. And that’s exactly what I did. And guess what? That feeling of dejection and discouragement lifted, and I could see through God’s eyes again into my situation.

God really is the great Physician in more than just physical healing; He’s the healer of dejection and discouragement. He is the dejection antidote.

He’s big enough. He’s strong enough. He’s loving enough. He’s faithful enough to turn any situation or bring a new open door that will blow our minds.

Is there an area in your life that you feel under? Maybe discouragement is clouding your vision regarding your career, family or the possibility of a marriage relationship.

There’s nothing like praise and thanksgiving to turn that place into a place of blessing. The Bible says that we are empowered to make those places of adversity and weeping ( meaning of the valley of Baca below) into a spring. A place of the flowing water of the Spirit. Then God brings His rain to cover it with blessings. Yes!

Psalms 84:6 “Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a spring; The early rain also covers it with blessings.”

Anyone else thankful that God has empowered us to live in a place of victory? You are the leading lady or man of your own life partnered with an all powerful God. We’re on a journey from glory to glory with Him, and we’re enjoying it from His place of victory.

Wendee Mannon, CEO OnDaySix