The Cure For Discouragement | Dr. Andy Brown

This powerful message confronts a reality many of us face during the most wonderful time of year: discouragement creeping into our hearts even as we sing about joy. Drawing from Psalm 73, we discover a profound cure for our discouraged souls—Jesus Christ as our portion. The psalmist Asaph enters God's sanctuary discouraged and leaves transformed, declaring 'Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.' This isn't just poetic language; it's the key to unlocking freedom from discouragement. When we understand that Jesus is our portion—our possession, our presence, our provision, our promise, and our proclamation—everything changes. The message challenges us to examine whether our present circumstances are speaking louder than the forever joy we have in Christ. We're reminded that discouragement grows when we forget who we belong to and who belongs to us. The cure isn't escaping our circumstances but enjoying the portion we already have. Like the priests who received no land inheritance but were told, 'I am your portion,' we have something infinitely better than any earthly possession—we have God Himself. This truth transforms our trials into testimonies and our tests into proclamations of His faithfulness.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Well, this is the most wonderful time of the year. And this is what I also know. This time of the year, we can feel discouragement creeping in. Have you ever felt that? And what makes it even worse about discouragement when it creeps in in this time of the year is it's we're singing about joy to the world, and everybody's supposed to be happy. And for whatever reason, my soul just does not feel happy. What do you do when you're discouraged? Where do you turn when you feel the shadows of your soul growing? Just like the days are getting darker during this time of the year, you can feel that darkness in your own heart. And so, where do you turn as a cure for discouragement? One of the places that I often turn and love, and sometimes I camp out here in my Bible reading, and maybe this is a good formula for you. If you are here this morning and you feel a little bit of discouragement, the shadows growing, I go to the Psalms. Because in the Psalms, there's raw emotions, there's questions of the soul. Questions where the psalmist will ask God. Questions like, How long, O Lord? It meets us right where we are, not to try to put a nice veneer over something, not to just put a flimsy prop up, but it meets us, the Bible meets us with real questions where we are. And the Psalms in particular, they always end, even though they may start one day, one way, they always end with the ring of hope that, regardless of my circumstances, here's how I'm gonna hope. One psalm that I'm gonna turn your attention to this morning, that I believe is gonna teach us the cure for discouragement, is Psalm 73. So if you have your Bible, turn to Psalm 73. And in there you'll find a psalm by a man by the name of Asaph. And Asaph is in charge of the singers, and he starts the psalm by talking about how discouraged he is. And then he comes to the house of the Lord. He comes to the place where the Lord dwells. He comes to the sanctuary of God, and then after hearing what goes on in the sanctuary, he leaves not the same way that he came in. And my prayer for someone here today, maybe you here today, is that you came in with a heart heavy. And my prayer today, as we encounter the living God through his living word, that you will leave different than the way that you came in today. Look at Psalm 73, for example, at verse 25 through 26. Listen to what he says, and here's the cure for discouragement. Whom have I in heaven but you? Now stop right there. You have someone in heaven. And that one who's in heaven, we know because he's given his life on the cross for your sins. That one who sits at the right hand of the Father has made an atonement for your sins. You have him. Not only is he in heaven, but he is for you. The psalmist says, he comes to the point. Nothing else will satisfy, nothing else will work. And he says, Whom have I in heaven but you? And then here is the challenge of the message this morning. And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. Now that may be a point of challenge, because if we're honest, there may be a lot of other things that we find our hearts being captivated by, being drawn towards, being pulled into. But notice the psalmist, he comes to the end of the matter and he says, I don't have any other hope than all the hope that I have that's in heaven. And listen, you have all the hope that you need in heaven. The right man is on your side, the one of God's own choosing. It is God Almighty, Jesus Christ Himself. And then he says, There is nothing that I desire besides you. Now listen to verse 26. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart. And look at this phrase: My portion forever. My portion forever. God gives himself to us. That's what Christmas is all about. That's what the candles are about. That's what the trees are about. That's what this time of the year is all about. God not having eternity without us, but instead inviting us into that forever with him, a forever with him that begins by redemption, us placing our faith in Jesus Christ. He is our portion. Why is that? Because he has given himself for us. He has given himself to us. And now not only has he given himself for us on the cross, he gives himself to us by redemption as the Holy Spirit is poured into our lives. Jesus Christ is not only for us not only gives his life for us, he gives his life to us. He portions himself for us. He gives you all of himself. Jesus paid it all, and he gives you all of himself. As the old King James used to say, this is true of us, the lot for you has fallen in pleasant places. You have a security, you have a hope like nothing else this world can offer for those of you who trust Jesus Christ. And let me say this, and here's the appeal for you who don't know Jesus Christ. Here's the appeal of you who have not had your sins forgiven. There is a Savior who is more ready to receive you than you are even willing to ask him. He is the strength of my heart, and he is my portion forever, and he can be your portion as well. That's that line in that psalm, I can't get over it. It really is the cure for our discouragement. It reminds me of another instance in Scripture in John chapter 6, when Jesus is preaching and he's talking about this union that we have in Christ. He's foreshadowing the events of the cross. And in John chapter 6, you remember one of the things that he said. He says, Unless you eat of my flesh and drink of my blood, you have no part of me. In other words, it's not enough for us to just have Jesus at a distance. No, we must receive him unto ourselves. We must accept him as our Lord of our life. It's not enough for Christ to be beside us. He must be within us through the power of the Holy Spirit. And many people looked at Jesus on that day and they said, What on earth is he talking about? This eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood. And the Bible says in John 6, the saying was hard, and many walked away. And Jesus, so many people were walking away that he looked at those twelve who were with him, and he said, What about you guys? Are you guys gonna leave too? And old Peter responded with this verse in John 6.68. Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You're the one that has the words of eternal life. And I wonder this morning, in the midst of all of your wondering, in the midst of all of your striving, in the midst of you trying to make it, have you come to the point of your life where you say, There is nothing that I desire on earth besides Jesus Christ. And that's the challenge that we have, not just for today, but that's the challenge that we have every day. Because if we desire anything else than Jesus Christ, listen, it's always less. If we desire anything other than Jesus Christ, it's always insufficient. You cash that check, and it's always going to be, it's always going to read back to us from the bank non-sufficient funds for whatever you're trying to deal with outside of Jesus Christ. But Jesus Christ, the one who hung the stars in the sky, the one who scooped out the oceans, the one who said while he was riding on that sea, peace be still, who cast out demons, who gave his life on the cross, this Jesus says, I am going to give myself completely for you. I'm going to give myself completely to you. And here's what I know. Write this down. Discouragement often comes when our present circumstances speak louder than the forever joy that we have in Jesus. And that's why many of you are discouraged. That's why some of us are discouraged. It's because we're listening to the wrong voices. These voices, and I know some of you, the circumstances that you're going through, and you have been going through it for a long time. You're grieving. You are wondering how much longer do I have to deal with my circumstances? Discouragement can creep in when our present circumstances speak louder than the forever joy that we have in Jesus Christ. And you do have a forever joy in Jesus Christ. That's what he secured for you on the cross. That's what he did on the cross. That's the reason he walked out of the grave, not to just give you some idea and say, well, one day Jesus is going to come back from the dead. No, we don't say that. We said Jesus Christ is alive. Three days later, he walked out of the tomb, fully alive, after experiencing death, not just encountering death, but experiencing death. And since he walked out of that tomb, everything changes about my circumstances. You don't have to be discouraged this morning. You can be disappointed. Matter of fact, disappointment, that's inevitable. All of us are going to face moments of disappointment, but discouragement comes. When we allow that disappointment, whatever that circumstance is, to speak louder than the forever joy that we have in Jesus. And listen to this next sentence. The cure, the cure for discouragement, is not escaping our circumstances, but enjoying the portion that we have. You say, Well, what is my portion? Notice what the Bible says. Verse 26 of Psalm 73. My flesh and my heart may fail. That's circumstances. But God, here's the unshakable assurance that the indestructible life of Jesus gives us. God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. So here's what I want us to do. I want us to do two things today. I want us to first really understand as much as we can, what does it mean for Jesus to be our portion? Now, this is language that we need to, that is, that is given to us through the Bible. Jesus is our portion. Well, what on earth does that mean? Well, I'm going to give you a few things. And then I want to answer the question, what difference does it make? How do I make Jesus my portion? But let's first begin by understanding what does it mean that Jesus is our portion? Well, first, portion means possession. Portion means possession. And this word portion goes all the way back to Numbers chapter 18 and verse 20. This is when God was, after the children of Israel had gone to the land that God has promised, after they've driven out all the enemies of God that were there, God is diving out the land. Still remaining for them to conquer, but he's diving out the land. And he says, Judah, here's your peace. This other tribe, Issachar, here's your peace. All these other tribes, this is all your tribe. Levi, here's your portion, all these portions. And here it comes finally for the sons of Aaron. These are the priests. And listen to what God says to them. And the Lord said to Aaron, You shall have no inheritance in the land, neither shall you have any portion amongst them. So let's stop right there. So it's finally your turn. Moses is telling what all the uh children of Israel are gonna have their portions to be. Next in line, here's your peace. Next in line, here's your peace. And then finally, you're a son of Aaron. You're one of the priests. And it's like, okay, here's my turn. And then you get there, and God says, wait, wait, just a minute. Who are you, son of Aaron? Yeah, you don't get any portion. You don't have an inheritance in the Lamb. And you don't get an apportion amongst them. But then listen to the next line. God says to them, I am your portion. I am your inheritance amongst the people of Israel. And some of you, if you're honest, you're like, mmm, I think I'd rather have the land, the beachside property. Can I get some of that? I'd rather have a little lakeside view. Can I have that? God says, I'm gonna give you something that circumstances can't shake. I'm gonna give you a better portion than money can't buy. The portion that I'm gonna give you, that I'm gonna invite you into, comes at a great cost. It comes through the cost of my son Jesus Christ. And that portion is an unshakable portion that you can never lose. Not based upon your circumstances, but based upon who Jesus Christ is. And some of you are like, well, wait just a minute, wait just a minute. That's for the priests, right? These are for guys like you who are the pastor. You don't get a portion. Uh you don't get to have this, but that's not for me. But I want you to go back in your mind with me for just a moment. Exodus, the chapter before Exodus chapter 20 is Exodus what? 19. Very good. Exodus chapter 19. That's before 20. It's not a trick question. Exodus chapter 19. Now, what happens in Exodus chapter 20? God gives the Ten Commandments. Very good. I don't know if you said it, but we're just going to pretend like you did. He gives the Ten Commandments. But remember what happens in Exodus 19 if you're looking closely. God says, I'm going to make you a kingdom, listen to this, not of priest, but a excuse me, not a kingdom with priest, but I'm going to give you, make you a kingdom of priest. In other words, what's the difference? A priest is one who stands in between you and God. That's the function of a priest. It's a go-between. It's an intermediary between you and God. And so God's original design was not for them to have a priesthood, but for the people themselves to be a priesthood. You say, what made the difference? The stubbornness of their hearts, their refusal to meet with God. God came down on the mountain in smoke and fire, and the people said, Moses, that guy terrifies us. You go meet with him, and then you tell us what he wants us to do. And as a result, they became a kingdom with priest instead of a kingdom of priest. And then Jesus Christ comes. And all of a sudden, what does Jesus Christ do? He goes and he tears down the dividing wall between us and God. He invites us into the presence of God forever. And then Peter looks at this passage. Peter looks at Psalm 73. Peter looks at Numbers chapter 18, and he looks at the people that have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. And this is how he looks at them. Listen, he says, 1 Peter chapter 2, you are a chosen race. You are a royal priesthood. A holy nation. Now look at this next word. A people for what? A people for his own possession. You and I have a portion. You and I have received Jesus Christ. We belong to him. He belongs to us. Our portion is who Jesus Christ is. What does portion mean? Portion means possession. The second thing for us to write down is portion not only means possession, portion also means presence. It also means a presence. What does it mean for Jesus to be our portion? Look at Psalm 73 at verse 23. Nevertheless, he says, I am continually with you. I hold you by my right hand. You have a God who has set his seal of affection on you, and he will never let you go. He will never let you go. His presence is always with you. The Bible says of you and me, God has engraved us on the palm of his hand. Our beginning, our end, our longing, our heart's desire, everything he already knows. And he says, no matter what, I will never let you go. And notice the intimacy of this language. Notice this. And just as we were having a meeting in the choir room between services, I noticed a little presence behind me. I noticed this little lingering presence behind me, and it was quite a tall presence, and so I wasn't quite sure. But it was my son, my son, he's gotten so tall. And I looked behind him, and here he is standing behind, standing behind Daddy, so that I can take him to the next place. And he's 11, and so he still lets me hold his hand. I know that he's not going to do that one day, but I can take him by the hand and I can lead him to the next place. We have a Father in heaven who takes us by the hand. He doesn't just say, That's the way you should go, hope it goes well, and I'll meet you on the other side. He promises that he would never leave us. He promises that he would never forsake us. He promises us that he would lead us right by the hand. Even if that means that you walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Where does he lead us? Psalm 23. Like a good shepherd, John 10, he leads us, Psalm 23, he leads us beside the still waters. He leads us to greener pastures. He says, I will never leave you. A portion means possession. A portion also means presence. A portion also, number three, means provision. Portion means that God is everything that you need. God is aware of your needs, and he will sufficiently supply every one of your needs. Oh, I wish I could convince you this morning, and really I can't. All I can do is tell you. The Holy Spirit of the living God, and that's my prayer, even this morning, that He will convince you in the middle of your circumstance, whatever it is. You invite discouragement when you get your eyes off of Jesus. Whatever circumstance you are, you have a Savior who gives you exactly what you need. Right when you need it. I love this passage in Matthew chapter six. It's really one of the anchor passages for me. And it has been for a long time. Jesus says on his Sermon on the Mount, He's realizing what he's fixing to do, right? This is Matthew chapter 6. Just a few chapters later, he's going to be crucified. And he's preaching. None of that takes him by surprise, by the way. That's the very reason that he came. So can't you just imagine the love and the affection in the eyes of the Savior as he's telling this sermon? He says, I tell you, don't be anxious about your life. What you're going to eat or what you're going to drink. All those circumstances that make all of us anxious. Don't worry about your body, the clothes that you wear. And then Jesus, he lifts our eyes to this eternal perspective and he says, Isn't life more than clothing? And the body? Or isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing? And those are so many things that we are cons they consume us in so many ways, our circumstances, all inviting discouragement. Jesus lifting up our eyes. And he says, This look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather in barns. And yet your heavenly Father feeds them. And then Jesus, realizing what he's going to do for you on the cross, he looks at you in the middle of your circumstances and he says, Aren't you more valuable than they are? It reminds me of that song that we used to sing. Why should I be discouraged? Why should the shadow come? Why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home when Jesus is my portion? A friend I have for me. His eye is on the sparrow. And I know he watches me. I can hear the sound of my voice, the sound of my mother's voice singing that song. Why should I be discouraged? Why should the shadows come? Why should my heart be lonely? When Jesus is my portion. Jesus Christ is your portion. And if he can take care of a sparrow, you better believe that he's watching you. Then he says this, Matthew 6, 27, which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his life? And then in Matthew chapter 10, he says some of the similar language. He said, Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the Father knowing? And then he says, even the hairs on all of your head are numbered. And then Jesus reiterates the point that he reiterated, that he stated in Matthew 6, fear not, therefore you are of more values than many sparrows. Portion means provision. Jesus has given you his life. Do you really think that he's going to hold back something from you? The Bible says, remember, he would not spare his only son, but freely gave Jesus Christ for our sins. Do we really think that he's going to hold back something that we need? You see what God is calling you to this morning in the middle of your discouragement, in the middle of you wondering? What's he saying to you? He's saying, trust me. Trust me. You may not know how things are going to work out, but I know how things are going to work out. I know exactly how things are going to work out. Portion, the next thing it means is promise. Portion means promise. Notice what the Bible says in Psalm 73, 24. What's he promised to do? He promises to guide us with our counsel, with his counsel, rather. Not our counsel, not us leaning on our own understandings, but we have a Savior who's committed. You have a question, he has an answer. Seek him. He said, Ask me. And when you seek me, I'll tell you when you seek me with all your heart. And some of you are like, well, he hasn't given me an answer, and I've been seeking him for a long time. Yes, he has. I love this verse. It says that you will guide me with your counsel. That's what we need presently. That's what we need right now. We need his guidance right now as we face whatever we face. And he's not far from you. He's not up there in heaven saying, Well, let's see how long it takes him to figure this out. No, he interjects, he woos, he calls because he loves. He doesn't hope that you'll make it. He provides everything necessary for you to trust him, to obey him, because he loves you. And here we have the calm assurance that he guides us now, gives us what we need for today. And then look at this: he receives us later. He has your right now in his mind, and he has your later in his mind. He secures a forever for you. You get to know him personally. And the reason that, again, we can say that is because of how much Jesus Christ gave of himself on the cross for you. He gave everything for you. He's not going to withhold anything from you. And let me say this, and I hope that you'll write this down. When Jesus is your portion, discouragement loses its voice. That little voice that says, You're not enough. Jesus said, I gave my life for you. There is nothing more that can be done for you other than what Jesus Christ has given. And none of us would say that the blood of Jesus is insufficient, but oftentimes that's how we live. Jesus Christ has given everything for you. Jesus Christ loves you. Jesus Christ comes to you in those voices of discouragement that say, Well, you'll never make it, Jesus said, That's all right, I've already done it for you. You can't ever do enough. Jesus says, I've done everything sufficient for you. He said, You have failed so many times, but Jesus won the victory once and for all for you. And when Jesus is the portion that you're holding on to, discouragement, that voice that keeps constantly on play in your head that tells you you're not enough, tells you you'll never make it, that tries to trap you wherever it traps you by all of these circumstances, when Jesus becomes your portion, then discouragement loses its voice. But how can we make sure that Jesus is our portion? I want to give you a few things. First, let Jesus be your nevertheless. Let Jesus be your never the less. Notice what he says here, and I love this. Psalm 73 at verse 1. Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my feet had almost slipped. I was envious of the arrogant. And you see how discouragement seeps in so quickly in the psalmist? In Psalm 73, he says, Yeah, I know God's good to everybody, but he's not good to me. And that's the way that most of us sometimes we have moments where we feel like this. All of us face moments of discouragement. We think God's love and provisions are good for anybody else. Or better for anybody else in my circumstances. Because after all, preacher, you don't know what I'm going through. After all, you've never been where I've been. And you know, I might not, and I probably don't. But I have a Savior that promises He'll never leave you nor forsake you. I have a Savior who gave his life for you. And I don't want you to meet me. I want you to meet him. I want to introduce him to you so that he can be your nevertheless. Notice this. It says, I was envious of the arrogant, but that's a by the way, that is a formula for discouragement, being envious of the arrogant, seeing the prosperity of the wicked looking about in our circumstances instead of trusting the God who is. And then look at verse 21 of Psalm 73. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant. Look at the rawness. The psalmist said, I was like a beast before you. And then notice how grace meets us in the next word. Nevertheless. Grace provides the space between us being embittered towards God and God receiving us unto Himself. Again, not based upon what we do, but based upon what Jesus Christ does sufficiently for us. Nevertheless, God says, in the middle of your circumstances, I will never leave you nor forsake you. The second truth for us to write down is for us to practice the presence of God in the middle of our discouragement. Right where you are, you can practice his presence. You say, how do I do that? By saying, nevertheless, I trust you. Not waiting to be through discouragement and then thinking, well, God will accept me, God will pour his affection on me after the fact. No, he loves you just as you are. He says, you're broken, give it to me, I'll heal it. He says you're not satisfied, bring your dissatisfaction to me and I'll satisfy you. You feel empty, he says, I'll fill you. Practice his presence. Learn to lean upon him in the middle of your discouragement. He says he is continually with you. The third thing is for you not only to practice his presence in your discouragement, but also to lean on his wisdom. For you to lean on his wisdom and not your own understanding. And here's what I know after dealing with discouragement, oftentimes dealing with discouragement. I never think that I'm good enough to stand right here, if I can just be honest. I never think that what I do is ever enough. It frustrates Katie to no end, my wife. It frustrates her to no end. And here's what I know: discouragement grows in confusion. Discouragement grows louder when we just don't know. How are things going to turn out? What's it gonna look like? What's gonna happen in the next five? All these circumstances, discouragement seems to grow louder and louder in the middle of confusion. But we have a God who says, you can lean on me. You don't have to know when you know the one who knows. You don't have to have it all figured out. You simply have to walk with him. When he gets ready to tell you what to do, he'll show you. And here's what else. If you resist him, he can overcome that resistance. Now you can still resist him if you want, but not without consequence. He loves you so much, he'll let you resist him, but not without consequence. And then God will meet us in the middle of whatever moment we're in, and he will lead us with his counsel. He will lead us with the things that he knows. He knows what you're going through. No one else does. No one else might, but Jesus Christ does. And there's an opportunity for us to lean on his wisdom, not on our limited perspective. Because our limited perspective will lead us in a bit of circular reasoning, in the cul-de-sac of our own reasoning. But Jesus Christ is the one who lifts us up, remember, in the midst of whatever difficult circumstances we're in, the discouragement that you may feel, he lifts us up so that you can see the forever joy that he has prepared for you. Which leads us to the fourth thing. We fix our hope on the future. We fix our hope on the future that he has promised. He guides us with our counsel. Verse 24, and later he's promised, promised, that he's going to receive us unto himself. He's going to receive us into glory. He's going to receive us into glory. Listen to this. The forever joy that Jesus has prepared for us is greater than any of your present circumstances. God sets a limit on your discouragement. He sets a limit on suffering. It's not going to last forever. Listen to what he says. Weeping is for the night, but joy is coming in the morning. And here's the sad part. So many of us choose to remain discouraged because we forget the forever joy that Jesus has promised. And let me say something to you, my dear friend. My prayer for you is if you're in a state of deep darkness, you're discouraged. Nothing you anyone can do can satisfy you. Nothing you do feels like it's ever enough. My prayer for you is that you would remember that Jesus Christ promised to never leave you nor forsake you. He's there even if you don't feel that he's there. And the forever joy that he has promised us is greater than any circumstance that we can face. And I've pastored people for far too long. Where I've seen them. Let those present circumstances be a flood that overcomes them. And my plea for you is that in the middle of your circumstances you would remember that God has a forever in heaven that he has fixed for you. It's a forever that he will let break into your present and give you hope, give you joy, give you assurance, give you belonging. The shadows grow dim in the light of his glory and grace. Fix your hope on the forever that he secured in fifth and finally. And this is the most important. Turn your portion into proclamation. What's God doing in your life? He's conforming you into the image of his beloved Son. Notice the end of this verse, it says, As for me, it's good to be near God. I have made the Lord God my refuge. Why? So that I may tell of all your works. God takes your test that you're going through right now. And you know what he's doing? He's turning that into a testimony of his glory. He's taking the discouragement that you're in, and he's turning it into a testimony of look at what God can do. Look at who he is. Your testimony is he never left me, he never forsook me. And let me just say this. That means something for one who's actually walked through a trial. That means something coming from someone who has walked through the valley of the shadow of death. That means something so much more from those who have been through the fire to come out on the other side and say, you know what? Jesus Christ never left me. Trust, that's not just a word we talk about. That's something that we have to experience. And that oftentimes comes through trials. God can turn your test into a testimony, teaching you in some way that your trials, well, they might just be blessings in disguise. Here's the summary of the message. You see, if Jesus is your portion, then discouragement cannot have the final word. And the reason for that is because he is your possession. You belong to him. And he belongs to you. He is your presence. You are never abandoned by him. He's your presence. You're never abandoned by him. He's your provision. His eye is on every sparrow, and he's watching you. He's your promise. Your future is secure in glory. And listen to this next one. He is your proclamation. Your very life becomes a witness of his glory. You see, the reason that you don't have any reason to be discouraged is because Jesus Christ knows you, sees you, loves you, and will never leave you. And my prayer for you is that you can honestly say what the psalmist says. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing that I desire on earth besides Jesus. And Jesus Christ is the portion that your soul clings to. And Father, we're so grateful that you never leave us nor forsake us. We're so honored that you chose to get in the middle of our mess. We're so honored, Lord God, that you don't forsake us. You don't choose another way. Instead, you meet us to greet us right where we are. And like a Savior, you gently lead us. And Father, there may be some today that they need to feel your hand grabbing theirs so that they can experience the joy that we sing about during this time of year. A joy that is not based upon our circumstances, but a joy that's based upon our portion. Father, if there's anyone here who doesn't know you today, may they confess their sins and may they receive you as Lord. And Father, also today, if one's discouraged, would you be the lifter of their head? Would you remind them that when they have Jesus as their portion, they have everything that they need. So, Father, have your way in our hearts as we sing. And Father, we just want to close before we sing by simply saying thank you so much for Jesus. Take our discouragement and turn it into a testimony. So that we as a people of God are able to say, look at what God has done. In Jesus' name. Amen.