“Snap out of it,” Joab said to David as David continued to mourn for his son, Absalom. “Don’t you understand that your people placed their lives on the line for you - yet all they see is that you’re moaning and groaning. If you don’t wipe the tears from your eyes and wash your face, they will desert you by nightfall.”

Our outlook affects others. Therefore, if you are a servant of Jesus Christ, if you are committed to the King, you must not allow yourself the pampered privilege of being discouraged.

When Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu were killed, the Lord said to him, “Others may mourn, but you cannot, for you are anointed. You have a job to do” (Leviticus 10:6-7). And Aaron continued on in ministry.

If the anointing is on your life, you don’t have the “right” to pout and whimper. Discouragement, depression, and defeat are instruments the enemy will seek to use to affect your family, friends, and community. It is the mature saint who says, “It’s time for me to grow up and to cast my care not upon those around me, but upon the Lord solely” (see 1 Peter 5:7).

“I have learned in whatever state I am to be content,” Paul said (Philippians 4:11). Contentment is the result of a decision you make with your mind rather than a feeling you have in your heart. God intervened on David’s behalf. The rebels were defeated. The kingdom was spared. Yet all David could see was that his son was dead.