As marriage restoration ministries often acknowledge, discouragement is a serious pitfall for anyone standing for marriage restoration, and there is NO doubt that it IS Satan’s favorite and most effective weapon against the restoration of our marriages! So I really appreciated something Judy Rousseau included in her message to marriage partners this morning, which was originally sent to her by Neal in Georgia. Unfortunately, I don’t know who the original author was, but feel certain they won’t mind their wisdom and insight being shared here as follows:

A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light, and God appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might.
So, this the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sunup to sundown, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all of his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.
Since the man was showing discouragement, the Adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the weary mind: “You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn’t moved.” Thus, he gave the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man. Satan said, “Why kill yourself over this? Just put in your time, giving just the minimum effort; and that will be good enough.”
That’s what the weary man planned to do, but decided to make it a matter of prayer and to take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. “Lord,” he said, “I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?”
The Lord responded compassionately, “My friend, when I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all of your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to Me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewy and brown; your hands are calloused from constant pressure, your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. True, you haven’t moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. That you have done. Now I, my friend, will move the rock.”
At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is just a simple obedience and faith in Him. By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God who actually moves the mountains.
When everything seems to go wrong…just PUSH.
When the job gets you down…just PUSH.
When people don’t react the way you think they should…just PUSH.
When your money is gone and the bills are due…just PUSH.
When people just don’t understand you…just PUSH.
PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPENS!!!

WOW, there’s SO much in the above story that we can all relate to as we stand for marriage restoration, but there’s a lot of wisdom, insight and truth to be gained from it too. One of the important, often overlooked points from my perspective is that WHEN the Lord has asked us to SERVE HIM by standing for the restoration of our marriages, and when we accept and agree to serve Him in doing that, He does NOT ask or expect us to try to move or REMOVE (including controlling and/or manipulating) the mountains and obstacles that appear to stand in the way of the restoration of our marriages. That’s HIS job, because that battle belongs to HIM! And we’re assured of that in 2 Chronicles 20:15, which says He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. And what awesome assurance of victory and His deliverance we have in 2 Chronicles 20:17, which says You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’ “
All He wants and expects from us is to LEARN and DO what His word teaches, and to TRUST and leave the consequences and results to Him. But another VERY important point of the above story is that when the man DID get discouraged, AS WE ALL WILL from time to time, he took his doubts and concerns to the Lord in prayer instead of allowing the devil to deceive him. And then HE LISTENED to see what God had to say to him! So many times we are so caught up in everything going on around us, and even so busy begging, pleading and crying out to the Lord, that we forget to be still long enough to find out what the Lord wants to say back to us. I love something I learned from Beth Moore in her messages about approaching the word of God, because she said when the Lord talks, talk back to Him. And she was saying that as we read the Bible, we should talk to God about what we’re reading. Well, in the same way, when we talk to God, we HAVE to listen to see what He’s going to say back to us, because those moments when we KNOW the Lord has spoken to us will be some of the most significant and precious times in our entire lives!

As I love to do when studying a particular topic, I did a BibleGateway.com search for discouragement, and was particularly impressed with some of the following verses, especially Joshua 1:9, which says Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Even though I knew the Lord tells us in many places not to be discouraged or afraid, I didn’t realize that He put it in such strong terms before finding that verse. He actually COMMANDS us to be strong and courageous and not afraid or discouraged, which means we all need to make a much greater effort to avoid allowing the devil to deceive us and cause fear and discouragement!

Most of us are probably familiar with the above verses about the battle belonging to the Lord, and Deuteronomy 31:8, which says The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” But I wonder if we’ve ever stopped to consider the importance of Deuteronomy 1:21, which says See, the LORD your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” God has ALREADY given us the restoration of our marriages! Otherwise He WOULD NOT have called us to stand for it! So the ONLY thing that can keep us from experiencing the restoration of our marriages is DISCOURAGEMENT, which causes us to quit and give up. That’s exactly what Numbers 32:9 confirms and warns against, because it says After they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and viewed the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land the LORD had given them. So let’s NOT let discouragement keep us from receiving and entering into what God has already given us! May it never be!

Posted Wednesday, August 30th, 2006 at 3:12 pm in Seeds Of Faith.