Overcoming Discouragement

Sometimes discouragement and failure take over our lives, and we cannot seem to crawl out of our hole. Even if in reality they are not a true picture, we can be blinded by the seeming darkness.  It often takes another person to uncover what is hidden from us and to see through the cloudy picture. 

I am reminded of a story about Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. He tells of how he felt his dream of starting a group for people with drinking problems was not going anywhere. Then unexpectedly Father Dowling, a disheveled priest, came to his door in the middle of a snowstorm. Bill’s caretaker told him that a “damn bum” was at the door. Bill was tired but agreed to see him and in doing so had his “second conversion experience.” Bil and Father Dowling talked way into the night, and Bill told of his “high hopes and plans, and spoke about his anger, despair and mounting frustrations.” 

It turned out that the elderly priest had had similar feelings and doubts in his own life and had yearned for a renewed experience of the presence of God. Dowling told Bill that he had discovered that the “hidden God awaited him in the form of each person who approached him with a problem.” He helped Bill see that only by reaching out for seemingly “unattainable goals” would he find God’s plan for him. To Bill’s amazement, the presence of AA eventually spread throughout the world.

Sometimes our angels come in hidden guise when we least expect them. Perhaps when we are at our lowest, we will encounter someone who will help us see how God is at work in our lives. Maybe a stranger will share how he or she overcame seeming failure and give us the courage to keep going.