Last month, I posted several articles about how to stay encouraged, especially in ministry. I had planned to finish the series before the holidays, but simply ran out of time. As a result, this last part of the series has been on my mind for quite a while.

Perhaps the most practical way to stay encouraged is to find your niche. When you know your purpose, and live accordingly, you experience much more in the area of encouragement than almost anything else can do for you.

We face a tragic crisis in America, and around the world. We are facing a crisis of identity.

Too many of our students are graduating from high school, or even college, and have no idea what they are going to do with their life. In fact, more college graduates have moved back in with their parents than ever before in our history.

These people are going through life without any idea of what their purpose is. And when that happens, it leads to discouragement, to despair, and ultimately, to depression.

But if you know what your purpose is, if you’ve found your niche, then you’ve already taken steps to avoid those downfalls. Finding your niche is one of the most critical things you can do to stay encouraged. And this is applicable at all levels; it fits your individual, personal life just as it fits into the life of a church or other organization.

In fact, I think those are the key areas that you need to look at when identifying your niche. You need to see what your purpose is as an individual, and you need to see how that fits into the greater purpose of your local church, and then into the global church as a whole.

One of the things I hear most often in ministry is, “I just don’t ever see God doing anything in my life.” The truth is, nothing could be further from the truth.

When we see God’s activity in our life and in the lives of those around us, that becomes a major source of encouragement for anyone to see.

God is active. He has a plan for your life and my life and is working it out to completion. That much is easily clear from the Bible.

But often, God’s activity in our lives is dependent upon our faith. When we believe that he will do something, he often follows through on that. If we don’t expect God to move, we will probably never see him do something. I’m not saying that he isn’t doing something, but we will surely miss whatever it is.

But when our faith gets involved, that seems to add energy to God’s activity, and increases it to the next level.

I believe that we need to expect God to do something in two critical areas of our lives.

Discouragement comes pretty quickly when we take our focus off of the end goal. One of the best ways to stay encouraged is to keep the ultimate goal in mind at all times.

All too often, especially in ministry, discouragement hits like a ton of bricks. There are lessons and sermons to prepare, people to visit, programs to plan, office tasks that need to be accomplished, and a ton of other stuff, some related to my role as a minister, some more mundane. Like sweeping up the mess left behind after an event, or filling the paper towel holders so they will be ready for the next event.

At times like this, the busyness can be overwhelming, and discouragement is just around the corner.

One of the best ways to combat this discouragement is to remember the true purpose of the church. Jesus stated it pretty concisely when he gave his followers the Great Commission, in Matthew 28:18-20:

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

When you look at the big picture, all the busy details fall into place, and everything you do seems worth the effort all over again. I believe that there are three main ways that remembering the purpose of the church helps us to stay encouraged.

One of the biggest needs we face in our contemporary society is the need to be encouraged. Especially during the Christmas season, it seems as if discouragement is rampant, and finding ways to stay encouraged is difficult.

One of the simplest things you can do is develop a consistent habit of spending time in God’s Word.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 states:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Can you imagine anything more encouraging than God himself taking the time to comfort you? That’s exactly what this passage says. God himself encourages us. Why? So that we can pass on that encouragement to others. And we draw that comfort and encouragement from his direct communication with us, the Bible.

There are several reasons for this. God’s Word brings us life (Matthew 4:4). God’s Word brings us understanding (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Psalm 119:18). God’s Word brings us salvation (1 Peter 2:2, Romans 10:13). God’s Word brings us delight (Psalm 1:2), and strength (Isaiah 40:31). And much more.

But God’s Word also brings us encouragement.

Look at what Romans 15:4 has to tell us:

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

I think that God’s Word encourages us in at least five ways.