Israel, come back! Return to your God! You’re down but you’re not out. Prepare your confession and come back to God. (Hosea 14:1,2 The Message)
Return
The opposite of discouragement might just be ‘returning.’
I have ruined relationships with my unfaithfulness. I have broken hearts with my errors. I have twisted beauty into ugliness with my impatience. I have hurt so many with my thoughtlessness.
And going back to fix such things is difficult, even impossible it usually seems.
But there is one broken relationship that can always be redeemed. In God’s eyes, we might be down, but we are not out. He waits, always, repeatedly, eagerly, lovingly, for us to return.
Because He never left us, in His eyes we never leave Him.
I have been slowly learning that the first step in repairing anything broken is returning to God, through Christ.
When we are discouraged because something is lost, ruined, hostile, or broken, Jesus holds out His arms and says, “come to me.” He answers our discouragement with His presence.
Return to Him.
We can not fix much at all. But Jesus can.