But as truly as I live all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. 
 

Those were the words of God to a discouraged and discontented people 
 

In spite of God’s mercy, deliverance and goodness, the Israelites were afflicted with blindness. They were not afflicted with a physical blindness, but blindness of the heart. They had a spirit of ingratitude and amnesia.

They have had it up to here with God, Moses, and this promise of a land flowing with milk and honey. 
 

The Bible tells us that they murmured and griped against Moses and Aaron. They were so discouraged that they told these men that they wished they had died in slavery down in Egypt. They wanted to know if God had brought them out of Egypt to die by the sword. They even said amongst themselves lets pick out captains and head back to Egypt. 
 

This moved Moses and Aaron to fall on their faces before them with great agony.  They began to plea the Lords cause by way of reminding them of God’s ability to bring them through the current distress. The congregation though was through with God, Moses and Aaron.  They sought to stone them with stones.

The glory of God appeared to them in the tabernacle and God wanted to know how long they would provoke Him with their ingratitude. He had been good to them and had shown to them things not seen by any other people. 
 

They had allowed themselves to come down with a bad case of discouragement….What is the source of  discouragement  and how can one avoid getting in to this state of mind?  
 

Discouragement is dissatisfaction with the past, distaste for the present, and distrust of the future. It is ingratitude for the blessings of yesterday, indifference to the opportunities of today, and insecurity about tomorrow. It is impatience with time, instability of thought, and impoliteness to God. 
 

Discouragement starts with a wrong focus. Discouragement is a disease of the soul and it flows out of a lack of faith in God. When we focus on the circumstances and situations around us, we will always get discouraged.  When we fail to remember who is in control of things, we will get discouraged. When we stop counting the blessings we’ve been given and the victory that Christ has already won for us, we will get discouraged. 
 
Discouragement gets our priorities out of place. When we get discouraged priorities begin to shift 
· Relationships start to suffer: In times of discouragement, people tend to spend less positive time with others. 
· Spiritual things matter less and less: When people get discouraged they spend less time with God. 
· Passion for God’s work move to the back burner: When people get discouraged their desire and drive to serve God  lessens.