I get an email every week making me aware of new Christian music coming out. Been getting them since my days in radio. There’s usually a word from the founder and I needed to hear this word. Hope you find hope today!

Doubt will make you question if what you’re doing is even worth it. Fear will make you wonder what will happen if it all goes wrong. But neither will numb you quite like discouragement.

You keep showing up. Keep doing the work. Keep serving. Creating. Praying. But somewhere along the way, expectation gets replaced by obligation, and the mission that was once born from passion fades into a never-ending list of soul-sucking to-dos.

The enemy doesn’t always need to convince us to quit. Sometimes it’s enough to convince us that what we’re doing simply isn’t fun anymore.

Discouragement can come in many forms. A disturbing news cycle. Unmet expectations. Poor results. One more week that looks exactly like the last one. It’s not enough to get us completely off track, but discouragement starts to sink in, and the trap is set.

So how do we fight it?

Stay grateful. It’s easy to forget how we got to where we are. The prayer that was answered. The door that opened. The opportunity we never thought we’d get. Today’s obligation may very well be yesterday’s answered prayer.

Most of all, remember why you started.

Before the deadlines, expectations, numbers, responsibilities, and results, something stirred your heart enough to make you say yes.

Go back there.

Ask God to renew that passion and remind you that calling isn’t always exciting and obedience isn’t always energizing. Sometimes faithfulness simply looks like showing up again tomorrow. Don’t mistake a difficult season for a dead calling. Stay grateful. Remember why you started. And keep going.

Kevin McNeese

NRT Founder /