Run With It: Disheartened and Discouraged

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Disheartened and Discouraged

Jeremiah was a prophet of God, a man of God who loved the Lord and whose life was committed to the service of the Lord, to going to the people, and to saying to the people whatever God commanded him to say. But he was also human, like we are, and he did experience a great deal of flack (assault) and persecution from the people, so there were times when he got disheartened and discouraged. And this was one of those times. And this is what he said:

Jeremiah 15:10,18 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“10Woe to me, my mother,

that you have borne me,

a man of strife and conflict

in all the land.

I have neither lent nor borrowed,

yet everyone curses me.”

And to God He said:

“18Why is my pain unending,

and my wound incurable,

refusing to be healed?

You have indeed become like a mirage to me—

water that is not there.”

Have you ever felt or expressed anything like that yourself during a time of being persecuted for righteousness’ sake? I have. I once went through this period of time when I kept getting knocked down (not physically, but mentally, emotionally) and treated with disdain, lied about, falsely accused of what I did not do or of attitudes I did not have, usually by others who did not even know me, but who made false judgments of me anyway, from very surface level evaluations or based on things they had been taught wrongly.

And I was not claiming that I was perfect in every respect, but that their accusations of me were lies, unfair, unjust, unkind, and without cause. And usually they were judging me by their own selves, by their own thoughts and personalities and ways of thinking, but not according to the Scriptures, and not according to the truth. And I did feel like I was drowning or like I was a basketball being slam dunked in the net over and over again. And I am most certain that I did cry out to God in my distress at those times.

I cannot recall exactly what the Lord said to me in every instance, but I am most certain that He was preparing me for “such a time as this” when He would call me to write down what I was learning from Him during my times spent daily with Him daily in His word, and to post these writings on the internet, so that “a herald may run with it,” “Run With It” then becoming the name of my blogs. All of this was in preparation to get me ready for what God had planned for my life that I didn’t yet know about, but I do now.

But this was God’s response to Jeremiah in his time of distress:

Jeremiah 15:19-21 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

Therefore this is what the LORD says:

“If you return, I will restore you;

you will stand in My presence.

And if you speak words that are noble instead of worthless,

you will be My spokesman.

It is they who must turn to you,

but you must not turn to them.

20Then I will make you a wall to this people,

a fortified wall of bronze;

they will fight against you

but will not overcome you,

for I am with you to save and deliver you,

declares the LORD.

21I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked

and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”

Now, if we read through the whole chapter, we will see that Jeremiah was not turning away from the Lord, but that he was lamenting his own suffering. He was discouraged. He was disheartened. And his strength was failing him. So he needed to return to fully putting his trust in the Lord, resting in Him, believing that God had called him to this ministry, and for a good purpose, and that God would give him all that he needed to do the will of God despite being mistreated and persecuted for righteousness’ sake.

And God may be now speaking to some of us who are serving Him with our lives who are feeling disheartened, and in order to encourage us to keep the faith, to stand strong, and to keep going in the strength of the Lord, even when things look hopeless. For believe me when I tell you that speaking the words of God from the Scriptures, in their correct biblical context, at a time when so many are teaching lies, and when so many are believing the lies, will not normally gain you popularity. You may rather be largely ignored.

No matter how we are treated by others, we are to obey God’s callings on our individual lives. And all of us who are of faith in Jesus Christ are to be the Lord’s servants and messengers in taking the true gospel message to the people of the world. We must not compromise the truth of the gospel just so that people will like us. But we must keep speaking the truth even if most of them hate us or just don’t like us or they just ignore us. For this is about the salvation of human lives out from slavery to sin so that they will now obey God with their lives and have salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

Disheartened and Discouraged

An Original Work / August 18, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

My Prayer

An Original Work / May 30, 2011

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

“Fill me with Your Spirit; help me to love others;

Let me know Your power; be an overcomer.

Show me how to follow Jesus Christ, my Savior;

Be His faithful servant to obey Him always.

“Lead me with Your presence; help me know the right way;

Teach me love and kindness, generous compassion.