Called To Encourage

 

  The power of words is remarkable.  What we say (or hear) can break our hearts and our spirits.  They can build or break us, encourage us or put us in a place where we are unable to move forward.

A friend tells of the time she was asked to be Song Leader for their congregation.  She was sure she did not have the qualifications to lead in any manner, much less lead the music!  She’d heard for years from some within her family, she couldn’t carry a note.  Why would someone tell her different?

As she and her friend continued the conversation, she shared that she loved singing, but her sister was much better and her parents agreed, even to the point of laughing at her when she challenged them on the subject.  Because of this negative feedback, she heard the voices in her head (and heart) tell her she could not sing!  

Her friend encouraged her to just try.  It was still a month out before she finally had the courage to lead one Sunday when the person who usually led the music wasn’t there.  She was pleasantly surprised by all the positive comments she received following the service.

I’ve seen others who wanted to do something creative with their life, but the person closest to them were never encouraging; but instead negative, and continually badgering them for a very long time.  Despite the negative talk, including what was heard in their own heads, continued the pursuits, albeit quietly.  

Eventually, circumstances changed, and with persistence, the creative work became fruitful, while clinging all the while to the several scriptures in God’s Word, including the scripture when God tells Joshua to “Be strong and courageous!”  God is the greatest encourager of all, especially when he gifts us with a specific talent.  We are expected to use these talents to honor God.  

There are plenty of people we encounter every day who need encouragement.  Between the voices in our heads, and Satan using others to feed that negativity, a person can become discouraged easily.  It takes only a few words to let someone know you believe in them.  Sometimes we can encourage with a smile, a small compliment or just saying hello or saying something nice on a whim!  

Encouragement was demonstrated in a very personal way recently.  My husband just had open heart surgery and even though I didn’t think we needed it when it was suggested by the Pastor, our congregation brought dinners for us during that first week home.  I had no idea how much having food delivered, would add to our well-being.  

When I commented on this to the Pastor at the service this week, he said, “That’s what we are here for.  What a great way to encourage one another!”  He couldn’t have known this post was already nearly written!  What a great blessing from a church family!

People need to hear good words and as Believers we should offer generously, ‘good words’ at all times. It’s also a wonderful way to encourage when you can ‘do’ something for someone!  Sadly, it’s so easy to get caught up in our own situations and get side-tracked from that mission of encouragement I believe God has given us all to carry out. 

How can you encourage someone today?  Be creative, or do something simple.  Share a kindness and see how much encouragement you’ve given.  It feeds their soul and yours!

Photo Credit:  free pictures of encouragement

Battered and Scarred

 

       Over the past two months or so, at least six different people I’ve cared about have passed away. One was from COVID, several were from old age, and others I really don’t know the cause of death, but they’ve left this earth, and moved into eternity.

As I think about the one thing they all had in common, I find myself getting emotional.  Most of those I lost knew the Lord, but a couple I’m not sure about.  But they all had this ability to let others know they were special.  They cared about people. 

Life has a way of creating bruises on our battered hearts and bodies to the point we wonder if we can go on.  Our lives sometimes take turns we don’t expect.  Like our family recently, we end up losing someone we love, experience abuse, or are forced to deal with circumstances over which we have no control. It might be a hurricane or tornado that’s gone through, taking everything we own; or a fire that wipes out everything except the clothes on our backs.  These events have the ability to not only scar us, but mar our perspective.

As we work through these events, trying to figure out who we are, where we belong, where we want to be, who to believe and direction to take, our choices can be skewed, which compounds the situation where we find ourself.  Our bad choices suddenly become the signature of who we are, until we reach a point that we reach for Christ.

As I look back on the lives of those I’ve lost, I can’t see the mistakes they’ve made.  I'm glad and maybe that’s a choice, too.  I don’t know.  But I know they impacted my life and losing them leaves me a bit battered.  This is probably true for everyone of us who have lost someone.  Even when we know they’ve gone home to be with their Lord and Savior, there is a part of us who are left behind, which is broken.

We wonder what we could have done differently, or why we didn’t make that last contact with them before they crossed over.  We want just one more moment to have a conversation with them with the chance to share how much they mean to us and to tell them the impact they’ve had on our lives.

Someone likened our lives like a dine that’s been run over, beaten and thrown about with its edges all crinkled.  Even in that condition that dime is still a dime.  It’s value of ten cents, hasn’t changed.

Our lives sometimes feel jagged around the edges.  We feel run over, beaten up with edges rumpled, crumpled and wrinkled, but our lives are still filled with worth—-especially in the eyes of God.  Regardless of what we’ve been through, the mars and scars, wrinkles and damage incurred, God still loves us and wants us to move forward.

When I can look at my life like this, the one thing I can take away from all the recent loss in my life is, if these friends had an impact on me in a positive way, then it’s my responsibly to see to it that I impact others in the same manner.  What better way can I let them know that they, regardless of the mars and scars they suffered—those things I never knew about—- never impacted me negatively.  And my memory of them, will always be held close to my heart.

Photo credit: https://depositphotos.com/stock-photos/body-scar.html 

 

Release The Tether

 

       My friend tells the story of when she was just a young teenager, she entered her pet calf into her local county fair.  He was was her prize and was usually very calm.  But on the day of the showing, as she led him into the arena a loud noise startled him and he bolted!  Holding on tight to the lead strap, the calf drug her across the floor.  My friend could hear the shouts, “Let go, Let go” but she hung on until she was spent, ultimately leaving her with scrapes and scratches, along with a bruised ego.

There’s an expression ‘let go and let God,’ and while I love the idea, sometimes my human-ness overrides good sense and I hold onto those feelings of betrayal, anger, frustrations or other negative thoughts or memories, that taunt me.  It seems regardless of the battering my emotions take, releasing that tether seems impossible.

One friend describes her ‘tether’ as a wound created by someone close to her with not just an untruth, but a lie.  The pain remains some days, she admitted, as she misses the relationship, but knows only God can change hearts. It’s not only hard to ‘let go’ but to have the patience that allows God to work out the details where there is eventual reconciliation.

I have no idea how a reconciliation would even look like in this kind of circumstance.  It’s easy to say, ‘forgive and forget’ or ‘wounds heal’ or even ‘time changes everything’ and that may be true.   But I think, depending on the depth of the wound it could take some time to come to the place where our hearts don't hurt just to think of such an incident. It becomes a very taunt tether! Only through the peace of God can we get through challenges like these, so we can come to a place of forgiveness.  

There comes a time when we have to allow God to heal our hearts, and until we reach the place where our hearts can forgive, we are challenging our spiritual relationship with God.  God says to forgive and when we look at the cross and his example, we can clearly see forgiveness changes everything.  I’m not suggesting it’s easy; it can actually be very painful, but when we remember the cross, it helps put it in perspective.

I heard the idea of ‘letting go’ can be aided by a visual like using a rock as the lump sum of all those ‘things’ burdening us with guilt or other negative feelings, and toss it into a lake.  Or we could write each one of those burdens, guilt feelings or whatever it is we need to release, onto a piece of paper and burning them.

Perhaps you have a visual different from these, and if so, please share.  I doubt there is a single person who couldn’t benefit from these literal expressions of ‘letting go.’

Even if you don’t use the literal example of ‘letting go’ when we can surrender to our forgiving Lord and Savior, all our negatives thoughts and feelings; hurtful things and betrayals in our lives which tend to darken our day ---we will experience a freedom we didn’t think possible.

I encourage you to prayerfully bring anything that has ever broken your heart to our faithful Lord and allow Him to heal your wounds.  You’ll be amazed at the difference it makes.

Photo credit:  https://depositphotos.com/stock-photos/hand-holding-rope.html 

Our Broken World

  Hearing the crash on the floor, I charged into the dining room. Five year old Jason was watching the water pour out of his snow globe around the fragments of glass splintered everywhere.  “I just wanted to hold it,” he said, tears streaming down his face.  “It’s broken,” he said, crying harder.   Scooping him out of danger from broken glass I snuggled him close, as he grieved the loss of a special gift from his grandmother.  

       Reflecting later on the incident I considered the loss of the world that had lived in that snow globe.  It was protected by the water and glass which surrounded it.  Once broken, however, repair was impossible; the shards of glass representing the perfection which was, now filled with jagged edges that could slice a finger or hand even in the effort of trying to do clean up.

When I think of the original ‘living space’ on the Earth within the Garden of Eden, filled with perfection for its original inhabitants, their world was a little like the elements held within the snow globe.  It brought delight, peace and a way of life that could not be replaced once Satan entered and shattered ‘the glass’.

Once out of the Garden, Satan had a ‘toe-hold’; and emboldened him to work in the hearts of all those who followed.  There was jealousy, greed, murder, lust and the list seems endless.  The lure of Satan captured the thought processes of every person in existence, and the perfect world seems beyond repair.  We’ve become a world where sinning is acceptable and encouraged through behaviors that are now considered perfectly normal.

Yet, as Believers we can know that we are not alone, even as sin tempts each of us every day.  The lure is there, and none, can escape it.  But it takes effort.  God spent time with Adam and Eve in the Garden.  They communed daily with the Living God.  They had walks and talks with him and God gave them everything around them, even ruler-ship of all that was, with a single caution, “Don’t eat or touch the tree in the center of the garden.”

That must have been quite the lure.  It wasn’t hidden in the corner beneath other brush which could hardly be seen.  But probably something that was beautiful which tested their faith.  They apparently didn’t question the command until Satan enticed them with thoughts that melted their reserve and they ate.  That’s not much different than how it is in our world now.  Satan if forever enticing us with different kinds of temptations that feeds on our weaknesses.

Our only hope is to be like Adam and Eve as the original couple who spent priceless time with the Father daily, walking and talking with Him.  Consider the grandness of this scenario.  Is it possible to have the same relationship with God that they had?  I contend yes!  We have the Living Word, the Messiah who absolutely wants to walk and talk with us; who wants to guide us, shape us and build us into the human beings who have perfect peace with him and live in harmony with our brothers and sisters in Christ, who will lead the church.

I fervently believe God can absolutely talk to us!  But are we like Adam and Eve hiding in the shadows in an attempt to hide our sins?  Are we thinking we know better than God about what is right and wrong?  Do we doubt God’s capabilities?

Satan will use whatever method he thinks best to beguile us into doing the wrong thing, just like he did in the Garden.  We have to choose to ‘live’ in that perfect garden, even though sinning is a part of life, because our hearts are now forever tainted.  But when we ‘walk and talk’ with God daily, the ‘wall of Christ’ can wrap around us, making the temptations of the world less alluring; and reminds us that when we confess our sins and turn away from them, God is still with us and forgives.

Photo Credit: https://www.google.com/searchq=free+pictures+of+snow+globes&tbm=isch&chips