As believers we know that we live in the grace and under the power of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We know it, intellectually. There are times, however, when we don’t feel it. We can express these moments several ways. Some will say they are depressed; others may say they are discouraged. I’m going to adopt a new word: disheartened. Dishearten is a Shakespearean invention. He coined the word in his historical work, Henry V. Literally, dishearten means “the opposite of heart”. To be disheartened means to have that sunken, hollow feeling at the core of your emotions.
Disheartenment can occur at any moment and for a myriad of reasons. It can come from serious issues but it can also be prompted by that series of little things that culminates with the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
Disaster of any kind tends to produce it. Even the memory of disaster can cause it. The anniversary of the death of someone special, for example, can be the key ingredient to a day of disheartenment.
Discord almost always brings disheartenment. When we endure discord, we understand better than ever its opposite: as David, said, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Disappointment is a doorway into disheartenment. We expect something good and nothing good happens. We expect something good and something bad happens. We have a positive view of someone and they let us down; we believe someone is a positive role model and they turn out to have feet of clay.
Psalm 27:14 declares, ” Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” At every event in life where our heart falls into that heaviness that we can define as disheartenment, we need to return to this remedy. He is the Lord. When we take our broken heart, our weakened heart, to Him, He strengthens.
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