Have you mastered the plaster smile? You know the one I'm talking about, don't you? It's that one we wear

when our insides are not smiling, but we don't want to reveal our true emotions. Sometimes it's just

easier to stage a cover-up, or so we think. You know what? It's very easy to hide discouragement, but it's not necessarily a

solution to pretend to be fine when we're not.

Thank you for joining Keep the Heart for today's podcast with Francie Taylor.

Francie is an author, teacher, and conference speaker.

Sharing lessons from the Word of God is her passion.

Now, back to today's important study.

In the tapestry poem by Corey Ten Boom, one of the verses says this,

The dark threads are as needful in the weaver's skillful hand as the threads of gold and silver

in the pattern he has planned. Discouragement is like a dark thread in the fabric of light,

but what should we do when it's beginning to feel like this dark thread is taking over the entire tapestry?

Let's look at some verses and ideas together on how to handle discouragement.

Number one, figure out the main issue. Problems are so much like weeds. If you don't get to the root,

little offshoots will keep popping up. The main issue is the root cause of discouragement,

and so it's so important that we figure out what is the main issue. Ask yourself,

what's really bothering me? And make it a matter of prayer because God knows

what's really going on in our souls all the time. Here are some examples of questions you could

ask yourself. Is it possible you may need help with the problem? If so, seek godly counsel,

preferably from a professional. You want someone who is a

faith-based counselor, someone who shares your faith, so that the counsel won't be contrary to God's

word. Another follow-up question you could ask yourself while you're trying to figure out the main

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