This morning I was discouraged and frustrated about something. My wife sensed it, so she cheerfully began to sing this chorus:

Cheer up, you saints of God, there’s nothing to worry about,
Nothing to make you feel afraid, nothing to make you doubt!
Our God has never failed, so why not trust Him and shout?
You’ll be glad you trusted Him tomorrow! 

The problem is that when you’re downcast, if you start talking about the situation, you usually end up voicing your complaints and doubts and speaking defeat. That’s what I did when I replied half-jokingly: “Fold up, you saints of God, there’s nothing to be happy about!” I was just singing it lightheartedly, but it was really the way I was feeling—and it was kind of nice for a while. “Poor me!”

When you have the poor-mes, you’re usually just trying to get attention and sympathy. When the children of Israel complained in the wilderness, they were trying to make Moses and the Lord feel sorry for them (Exodus 16:2–3). Your pride is wounded, your ego has been a little deflated, your self-confidence has been a little shaken, and you begin to wonder then if everything is a mistake. Maybe you are never right about anything! In come Mr. and Mrs. Doubt and all the little Doubtlets, and Mr. and Mrs. Devil and all the little Devils, and you pull up a chair and invite them to talk it over—and pretty soon you start agreeing with them. “Yes, that’s right! I never was very much of a Christian after all! How could God use me? I don’t really have a very victorious, overcoming life, and I’m not perfect. I’m just a big mess. I might as well quit!”

In come Mr. and Mrs. Doubt and all the little Doubtlets, and Mr. and Mrs. Devil and all the little Devils, and you pull up a chair and invite them to talk it over.

It’s because you get your eyes on yourself instead of the Lord—introspection instead of “Heaven-spection.” You think so much about yourself and your own faults, frailties, mistakes, and sins that your “self” really gets you down. The Devil, your spiritual foe and the enemy of happiness, can tell you a lot of truth about yourself that’s horrible, not to speak of the lies he tells you, so if you start listening to the Devil, there’s no end to it. If you listen to him, he can make you sound even worse than you really are, and that’s pretty bad!

Then you start listening to your critics, or perhaps some friend or member of your family makes some casual remark that they don’t really mean or that you misinterpret, and the Devil exaggerates the situation until you get disheartened and feel like giving up.

It reminds me of King David when he said, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul” (1 Samuel 27:1). How could David have made a song out of that? It would have sounded terrible! “Someday I shall surely die! Someday I will be defeated. Someday the Devil will get me. Someday my enemies will kill me. Maybe it’s not worth it after all! God has failed me. I’m a failure. I might as well quit!”—Which was exactly what the Devil wanted to persuade David to do by that barrage of doubt and self-pity.

How could David have made a song out of that? What kind of doleful dirge, sung in a mournful minor key, would that have been? I guess that’s why you never find that in one of David’s psalms. David evidently said it, because he’s quoted in the Bible as saying it—one of those brief little outbursts prompted by the Devil that manages to get through before we catch ourselves and realize how bad it really sounds. But David had enough sense not to make a song out of it and keep singing that tune. Instead, in the book of Psalms he takes a positive approach, defying his enemies and praising God in spite of his troubles, because he knew that God would work everything out, because He always had and because He promised to.

When you’re discouraged, the Devil makes you mad at the truth because he’s about to be defeated by it. He makes you angry when people try to cheer you up, and makes you upset at the very people who are trying to help you, because you can’t enjoy your misery as much if they’re trying to make you happy. You’re ashamed because your defeatism looks so bad alongside their victorious attitude, so you attempt to cover up in a fit of fury against them, or you try to find fault with them and others and everything—even God—to excuse yourself for being such a grouch.

So this morning I was tempted to get mad at my wife when she tried to cheer me up with that song, and I responded, “Oh, yeah?” and jokingly began to sing the reverse: “Fold up, you saints of God, there’s nothing to be happy about; everything to make you feel afraid, everything to make you doubt.” That far was a little funny because it was so obviously defiant and my sin was so apparent, but when I got to the next line and saw what the reverse of the song was leading to, it scared me and I didn’t care to go on singing it. I knew God wasn’t wrong and He had never failed. So how could I sing, “Our God has always failed, so why not murmur and doubt? You’ll be sorry you trusted Him tomorrow!” If there’s anything I know, it is that God has never failed and I’ve always been glad I trusted Him tomorrow. So I knew that was a lie and I just couldn’t possibly sing the song in reverse, no matter how bad I felt. It just wasn’t the truth!

Look what a horrible lie even that little song is, if you sing it in reverse. That’s the way the Devil operates: He starts out seemingly innocent and honest with something that doesn’t seem too bad. “Fold up, you saints of God, there’s nothing to be happy about”—which is the way we sometimes feel when we get discouraged. But it’s the horror that this leads to that shakes us up and shocks us into realizing what a liar the Devil is and how bad a state we’re getting into.

Thank God for His shock treatments when we realize what a terrible thing we’re saying or doing as a result of some little doubt or fear or disobedience that we started with. One of the things that helped snap me out of it was when I realized what a terrible example I was being to my wife, who was trying to lift me up and encourage me, while I was resisting it. Even if I was half joking, the danger of dragging her down with me finally woke me up. I realized that I had to get the victory for her sake, if nothing else!

No man lives to himself, and no man dies to himself (Romans 14:7). Each of our lives is bound to affect others. No man is an island. Everybody’s influencing somebody, even when they seem to be alone.

My grandfather used to say, “If you must go to Hell, at least don’t let somebody else stumble over you into Hell too!” But this isn’t possible, because if you’re going to Hell you’re bound to drag others with you. Everybody has influence. No man lives to himself, and no man dies to himself (Romans 14:7). Each of our lives is bound to affect others. No man is an island. Everybody’s influencing somebody, even when they seem to be alone.

Sometimes just a word or a glance or a smile can make a big difference—how we act or sound or seem. If it’s not cheerful and victorious and uplifting, then it could easily hurt others and pull them down with us. We’re either going to pull people up to our level or drag them down to it, one or the other.

Just a little bit of doubt, a little bit of fear, a little bit of complaint, a little bit of discouragement, can grow and grow until you are completely defeated and a terrible influence on others. You never stop until you hit bottom—unless you repent and snap out of it and ask God to forgive you and throw out the Devil’s whole pack of lies and all your doubts and fears and discouragement, and follow Jesus and His Word, and hold on to His promises. The future is as bright as the promises of God!

You’re going to either be positive or negative, one or the other. You can’t be just a little bit of both. That’s what the Devil will try to tell you: “It doesn’t hurt to be just a little disheartened, to feel just a little bit sorry for yourself. After all, you deserve to enjoy a little bit of discouragement so you can get some sympathy from others. Why not? Misery loves company! Let’s make everybody else a little bit miserable, too, so we can all enjoy it!”

The minute you start listening to the Devil you’re done for, because there’s no end to it, no stopping place! He’ll never quit until he’s dragged you to the very bottom and left you utterly defeated, a terrible reproach to the cause of Christ and a drag on everybody around you.

So, if you’re discouraged, friend, for God’s sake don’t murmur, complain, and voice your doubts and fears to others! They may already have burdens more than they can bear. Yours may be the last straw.

If we don’t keep our eyes on the Lord and our mind on His Word, we’re doomed to defeat, doubt, disillusionment, and final failure!

All through life, my brother, if you’d be a happy soul,
Keep your eye upon the doughnut, not upon the hole!

Keep your eyes on Heaven. Keep your eyes on the goal, and the victory in your soul. Always shout, never doubt! When the Devil tempts you to get down and discouraged, fight! Don’t even listen to him, much less surrender. Start doing something positive. Start saying something cheerful and encouraging—like my wife did for me this morning, when she began to sing, “Cheer up, you saints of God” in her sweet way, the best she could, trying to remind me to trust the Lord.

Only Jesus, only Jesus, only He can satisfy.
Every burden becomes a blessing,
When I know my Lord is nigh!