In the lives of those of us who yet struggle with disappointments, the guilt, the shame,

the bitterness, the unforgiveness, the condemnation as a result of scars, scars that we incurred

whether through failed relationships, betrayal, just disappointments, the pain unique to just

being in a fallen world, many of us yet struggle. The subject, scars that won't heal, and

what we have been chasing is the why. Why are our churches, our ministries filled with

people who yet bear the scars from the disappointments of yesterday, the pain of yesterday, the shame

of yesterday. Why are we still in this place? We're in, we're yet dysfunctional. In life, we'll

come to understand this, that disappointments are given. It doesn't matter, life is a collection of

seasons, and dependent upon what season we're in, we recognize that as we're aging, the longer we're

here, we're going to face disappointments. It's a matter of being in a fallen world, but you and I do

not have to be discouraged. Discouragement means the absence of courage, the absence of the

courage to confront. The absence of the courage necessary to continue, the courage to change, the

courage to rise, courage. Discouragement is this ease of soul, no ease to the soul. Discouragement

really is a decision. It's not unique to what happens in this life. All of us are going to

experience disappointment, but all of us do not have to choose discouragement. The biblical

character that we have been looking at is Mephibashet. He's the son of Jonathan. Jonathan and

David were friends, and they made this covenant. Now Jonathan is dead. His father saw is dead.

David is on the throne, ruling over the nation of Israel, and he wants to extend kindness to

Jonathan's house. David finds that Jonathan has a son by the name of Mephibashet, and so he calls

for him because now he wants Mephibashet to receive his inheritance and to sit at the king's

table. Mephibashet. The name means God strikes down shame. You and I must understand this as we

develop in our relationship in the Lord Jesus Christ that shame is just not a part of this

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