The cycle of lethargy 

‘Go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you!’ 1 Samuel 30:8 NLT 

After losing everything at Ziklag, David could have said, ‘I think I’ll just stay in this cave the rest of my life and let Saul be king.’ Instead, he asked God what his next move should be and God said, ‘Go after them; you will recover everything that was taken from you!’ When David obeyed these words he got back everything he’d lost and re-established his leadership. Taking action is very powerful! One single step forward can rob failure of its destructive power. The reason failure paralyses us is that we don’t take the time to understand why we failed in the first place and then work to change it. Instead, we wait for some outside force or person to rescue us, when all the time God’s calling us to act. When you’re worried about failing, the worst thing you can do is nothing! Failure can be a tremendous motivator, especially when it drives you to make changes leading to new levels of understanding. Writing about what he terms the ‘cycle of lethargy’, psychologist David Burns says, ‘When I’m faced with a challenge and do nothing, it leads to distorted thoughts that I’m helpless, hopeless and beyond change. Those in turn lead to destructive emotions; loss of energy and motivation, damaged self-esteem and feeling overwhelmed. The end-result is self-defeating behaviour; procrastination, avoidance and escapism. These negative emotions reinforce one another and the whole cycle spirals downward.’ When you act and win, it’s glorious. When you act and lose, it’s painful, but it’s not failure. Failure is refusing to act at all! 

Prayer Point:

Lord, let me not go into a downward spiral of lethargy and self-doubt. Help me, instead, to understand where things have gone wrong, to learn from my mistakes, and then to take steps forward. Thank You that You promise to lead me in triumph and make me an overcomer. Amen.