Conquer discouragement by conquering will

July 22, 2021 | 31 comments

I picked up this thought from a patient who heard it spoken on a recent Christian Science Sentinel broadcast:

“Discouragement is disappointed will.”

Mortal mind gets discouraged when it doesn’t get its way, which is always some type of preconceived material outcome.

However, when we put our hopes in Truth, and seek a spiritual outcome, there are no limits to how far we can go. There are no obstacles to the humble thought seeking healing spiritual insight. Discouragement is not a temptation. New insight into Truth brings encouragement.

Seek God’s will. Let “Thy will be done.” It always is! It’s an encouraging fact to accept.

31 thoughts on “Conquer discouragement by conquering will”

  1. Thank you, Evan, just what I needed too! When I get discouraged I try to recall this from Misc Writings page 277:23 – No evidence before the material senses can close my eyes to the scientific proof that God, good, is supreme.”

  2. Thank you so much, David! Evan, I loved that quote defining discouragement the moment I heard it! It rang so true. So grateful to be reminded of it. Thank you!

  3. Thank you Evan…and DavidM…love the quote from Misc Writings!!! Thank you for these reminders…as we always say…to “know the Truth”!! 🙂

  4. Really poignant recognition of how that reaction can be understood. I’ve never thought of it in that way. thank you to both you and your patient.

  5. This is SO interesting!
    Here’s what Mrs. Eddy says about human will.

    “The human will which maketh and worketh a lie, hiding the divine Principle of harmony, is destructive to health, and is the cause of disease rather than its cure.”
    (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 445:24)

    So if we’re discouraged in healing it might be a real heads-up that we’re on the wrong track! “Thy will be done” means seeing perfect God, perfect man, not a sick person one would will to be healed. You can’t make truth true. Perfect God, perfect man, forever true, means PERFECT healing!

    1. So well said – an awesome point!
      What are we waiting for when Gods presence is here and now? (And omnipotent) – and the only Mind?

    2. After a visit with my brother and his wife who were expounding on the ills of the world, your heads-up is so right. They are on the wrong track and need God’s Word to correct their understanding of human willpower. Thank you for sharing, Diane.

      1. And I bet you are alert to not seeing them as on the wrong track!

        Such subtlety, mm!

        Sneaky, snakey…… and unreal.

  6. Thank you for this wonderful message today! When we stop outlining and” let go and let God “ unfold all spiritual good we see results. When praying we must expect to see spiritual results! We are affirming the truths we seek and must patiently wait for Love’s perfect work ! God’s will not ours!

  7. Evan,
    Thank you for a wonderful Spiritview this morning! I love the picture! It is a reminder that there are an infinite number of ways to summit but sometimes we might only think there is one. Just because we think it does not make it true. 🙂

  8. Bottom line: bypass discouragement – when making any serious decision turn everything over to Truth, God, ………….the sooner the better!

  9. “Discouragement is disappointed will.” Much to ponder and digest there, and very true. I’ve been feeling discouraged, even disillusioned, about things at my workplace. Things that seem like too much change, chaos, lack of caring about employees on the part of the company, feeling kind of lost, unconnected. Wondering if I still belong there, thinking of resigning or taking a leave of absence.

    I need to take a good look at this from the perspective of today’s message before I decide what’s real in a spiritual sense or what may be a lack of humility and trust in God unfolding, error feeding me lies and me taking the bait and becoming seemingly miserable. When I dig deep enough, it most often turns out it’s human will and a lack of humility that underlies my challenges, It’s very sneaky, but starting to see it now. Thank you Evan and all dear commenters for the wakeup call.

  10. Some inspiring quotes I’ve read:
    “Disappointment is unfulfilled human will. When we focus solely on our material goals without input from divine inspiration, we can never be fully satisfied.” And “The more we let go of self-will, the better we will hear God’s direction.” Also, “The only things that you can have must first belong to God before it can belong to you. You can have love, etc., but you can’t have discouragement.”

    1. Spent the morning longing to get into the garden, which was over grown, thriving in fact. One discouraging element, the hawk, wandering around the garden. A big hawk, not the one which was present yesterday, but one which didn’t take flight. Watching from the window, my husband and I thought it might be injured, as it wasn’t taking flight, after viewing it for over an hour, off and on. Hawks are Federally protected in the USA. Then I called the local Department of Wildlife, who directed me to speak to an out of town Hawk Rescue Team, over 200 miles away. No problem the bird team said, take a picture, and send it via cell phone, and we’ll see what this hawk needs.
      The hawk wasn’t photographed clearly, set against the back drop of the flourishing garden foliage, and I wasn’t close enough to make a clear image, so the Hawk rescue team listened on the phone as I reported that the hawk had resettled on the top of the garden’s rock wall/fence, but wasn’t taking flight.

      Step by step, as I watched carefully, with a metal pool pole in hand, I set up white plastic buckets upside down, to signal a perimeter to the larger hawk. I never saw the hawk on the wall leave, but suddenly that hawk was out of sight, so proof it wasn’t injured. The rest of the scenario which unfolded was there was not one hawk, but 4 hawks, intimidating the hawk in my garden, which is apparently why it remained on the ground all morning.

      With my gardening tools in hand, I worked in the garden, with one hawk verbalizing, but as I proceeded, one by one, the 4 hawks moved on, and I was left to my business outside, with no more aggressive behaviors from the 4 hawks. Hungry? Thirsty? Wanting me to pay attention to them? What came to me was relief from discouragement, from not being allowed to work in the garden early in the morning. I thank God.

      1. Loved your story chilesands. Glad to hear you got rid of your “discouraging element(s)”!
        Thanks to Evan too for this thought provoking blog. (=

  11. Thanks so much, Evan!! Thanks to all writing comments! Thanks Angie for the article link! Love the beautiful photo!

  12. Spirit View Fan,
    There’s the completed idea! Here’s a link that covers the importance of treating our own thinking. Towards the end the article says: “When we are tempted to make a reality of another person’s error, we unwittingly align ourselves on error’s side. Some unworked-out belief in the reality of evil in our thought may incline us to believe that another’s error is really his individuality.”

    Whoa, we don’t have to accept that another is on the wrong track.

    TREAT YOURSELF DAILY
    https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/2ew7stmcibk?s=e

  13. Wow, this is a big one. It took me a few minutes to really get out of a sense of “myself.” I reasoned this way: if I “still don’t feel good” then I’m still looking to a false sense of self separate from God existing over here on my own. Nonsense! God is all and I am an idea existing in Mind, God. We just need to get over our selves. And accept these spiritual Truths we are learning as law. Such a cool journey to be on with God.

    I recently heard from an online lecture: “physical healing is the smallest part of a Christian Science demonstration. Learning more about God is the biggest. So if we want to be healed, we need to focus on learning more about Truth, God.” It can be challenging to think this way if we are in pain or don’t feel good, but our real desire needs to be focused on God, not a separate identity.

  14. Dis-courage,: dis- 1. a Latin prefix meaning “apart,” “asunder,” “away,” “utterly,” or having a privative, negative, or reversing force (see de-, un-2); used freely, especially with these latter senses, as an English formative: disability; disaffirm; disbar; disbelief; discontent; dishearten; dislike; disown.

    Cour. French couer, core, heart, strength.

    The core of our being is the heart of our being which is love. It cannot be torn apart or taken away or diminished. It is not dependent upon me getting my model will or outline. My life is not about mirror mortal will or what I want or what I think or my determination oh my goals. Healing depends upon repentance and grace, humility and faith, Love. It’s not about me it’s not about getting what I thought I wanted, so I have the courage and endurance and resilience and perseverance to succeed with more energy and power because it doesn’t come from personal sense. And if it seems to come from personal sense then good riddance to it!

  15. ONENESS

    “The only capacity to conceive is God, the all-knowing Mind. If there were a separate capacity to know about Mind, God would not be the all-knowing. In Science and Health we read: ‘Whatever reflects Mind, Life, Truth, and Love, is spiritually conceived and brought forth; but the statement that man is conceived and evolved both spiritually and materially, or by both God and man, contradicts this eternal truth.’ (303:10-14). It is Principle, cause, and not idea, or effect, that conceives and reflects. As idea, man is effect, and effect cannot have an effect. All consciousness is Mind; there is no secondary consciousness. Man is reflection, not reflector. Mind conceiving Itself constitutes yourself. Life demonstrating Life is your Life in every detail. Divine Love, conscious of infinite ever-present Love, is your experience. There is no capacity outside the Principle, or cause, to know, act, or experience anything. Man is the divine idea, conception, or consciousness of God.”

  16. This pic reminds me of “Gazing down on the YoungFrau (sp?)” the song, the opening ,, “Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life At Last I’ve Found You”. l Thank you for such a helpful tip to get self out of thr way sometimes!

Leave a Reply to Rose from New York Cancel reply

Keep the conversation going! Your email address will not be published.

*