The Real Jiyong

Chapter 15: Don't Be Discouraged

GD’S POV

It had been two days since I had said that prayer in my hotel room and I noticed that these past two days I had been sleeping soundly, better than I have in a long time. Could God really have answered my prayer and helped me sleep better?

I wasn’t really sure but if He did I was grateful. I haven’t felt this energetic in so long it was such a refreshing feeling. Today was the day that Hyung would be taking me to some church service which I was nervous about. Had I gone to church before yeah, but the preacher was not as accommodating as I had hoped he started talking about how Rap and Hip Hop artists like me where poising the youth singing about sex money and drugs. One, I never sing about sex or drugs nor do I try promote that in my music. All I want to do is to create feel good music that people can enjoy. So, granted I was more than nervous about going to church with Hyung because I didn’t want the same thing to happen again.

Pushing my feelings aside I got ready and Hyung and I took a cab to the church. It was fairly large building and located in a calming and scenic area in town and judging by the number of cars and people walking into the church on foot this preacher seemed like he was well respected.

Hyung and I climbed out the car and made our way into the church and took our seats near the back row. My efforts to either hide myself or not be noticed seemed to be failing as people kept taking glances at me.

I was wearing black jeans, paired with a white shirt and a black trench coat. I had my shades on and I wanted to wear a face mask and a cap, however Hyung advised me that less would be better. Feeling uneasy already I wanted this thing to start and end so I could leave as quickly as we came in.

“You feel alright Jiyong?”
Hyung whispered to me from the side I guess he could tell I wasn’t feeling too comfortable here.

“Huh? Yeah, just feeling a little uneasy and people keep glancing at me.”
I whisper back hoping he would say we could leave.

“Don’t think too much about it, I’m sure their just wondering who the new face is that’s all. Breathe and relax everything is going to be okay, you’ll see.”

Hyung seemed rather comfortable in compassion to me but what could I do? I would just have to take his word for it. How bad could it be maybe the preacher could share on something that would help me? The preacher walked onto the stage and introduced himself.

“Blessed Morning everyone today I have a very special guest who will be sharing on a very powerful message its something we all face and go through and sometimes we just need proper guidance to help us through it.
So, I would like to call Leslie Vernick to the stage she is a writer for The Association of Biblical Counsellors (ABC). ABC exists to encourage, equip, and empower people everywhere to live and counsel the Word, applying the Gospel to the whole experience of life.”
He claps as the lady makes her way to the stage and the people in the church join in clapping hands (Leslie Vernick, 2018)

“Thank you so much Pastor Mark for giving this opportunity to share with the children of God a very important message that I think we all as Christians and non Christians face and don’t know how to deal with. Today I will be sharing with you 5 Ways to Stop Discouragement from Getting the Best of You.”

"Discouragement and disappointment are normal emotions we all experience even as Christians, but it’s important to know how to make sure those debilitating emotions don’t get the best of us."

"First, let’s look at four reasons why we get discouraged and disappointed.
Job felt discouraged with his wife and friends. They didn’t get it. In the midst of his suffering and questioning God, they tried to be helpful, but they ended up heaping more shame and blame on Job for his afflictions. We, too, can feel let down by our friends and family. They don’t understand what we’re going through or don’t offer to help as we wish they would. Our disappointment can turn to discouragement."