I’ve been thinking about encouragement and discouragement and how it seems to cycle around for people. We all get discouraged in life at certain times, and we all benefit from encouragement when it comes. Encouragement can take many forms, be it from a song, movie, poem, or even a kind word from a friend. For the Christian we have prayer and God’s Word that can speak against lies with truth. God also told us to build each other up and encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11). It is especially important to do at times when many people might start to despair or give into fear. Don’t forget your faith. We do have a hope.
I recently watched Pollyanna with my family and think I appreciate it even more now than when I was a child. This was a girl who had lost her parents and still had reason to smile. She endeared a whole town to her just through her positive outlook on life. When she wanted a doll but a pair of crutches came, she was sad. However, her dad helped her see by playing “the glad game” that there’s always something you can be glad about. She was thankful that she didn’t have to use the crutches. I won’t spoil the end of the movie, but discouragement and encouragement are definitely running themes in the movie. I wish I were a bit more like Pollyanna, but that is not an easy feat. Perhaps some people think I am too much like her and too positive, especially if you read the last post. However, just because someone is a confident swimmer does not mean they are a confident diver. Maybe they are scared of heights? We all have our areas of confidence and our areas of weakness, worries, or fears. Mine are different and I too am not always so positive... Germs may not be my personal cause for alarm, but I sympathize with those for whom it is. There are more “at-risk” people than myself and except for essentials like groceries, it is for that reason I am also following the stay-at-home guidelines. We are to care for our brothers and sisters in Christ as well as for our neighbors, aka the rest of the world. Do what you can when the opportunity arises, but at your discretion. Like if you are 90 years old, you might not be doing the same things for your neighbors as your 30-year old neighbor is and that’s okay. Each person does what they can with the talents and abilities God has given us. Sometimes all you can do at the moment is pray. I can think of some times when I needed some encouragement. The greatest encouragement comes from God. However, God can also use people and things around us to encourage others and that is what is precisely on my mind right now. How can I be better about encouraging others? Sometimes it is in admitting that I myself sometimes need encouragement as well. If we don’t open up, how do we expect others to open up? Relationships are give and take. Some people wear their heart on their sleeves, but others keep it safely locked away. Why is it so hard to be vulnerable? Whereas traditionally I tend to keep my struggles to myself, I will try to be more open when opportunities arise to share. It helps to know you’re not alone. Perhaps that’s why music is so powerful, because it puts into words what we’ve been feeling. Somebody out there gets it and we want to sing it out with them. It also helps to have an outlet as well. Some people paint, or scream apparently, though I don’t find that particularly therapeutic. I write. Poems help express my feelings and I hope they touch a bit on the experiences of others as well. And this blog in effect is a bit like a journal, only that I hope it may help someone to feel less alone and perhaps answer some questions about God or life. Not that I have or know all the answers because I don’t, but I hope to point you to the One that does. My greatest question is that of suffering. I don’t think I’ll ever have a satisfactory answer and we won’t know all the answers. Only God knows everything. However, I know God is real and that He works all things for the good of them that love Him (Romans 8:28). I know that He has plans for our welfare and not for woe (Jeremiah 29:11). I know that we must take up our cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). I know these things for myself, but what makes me sad is that other people don’t. It is so easy to fall away when trials hit. I can understand why people lose their faith. However, God is what’s gotten me through my trials and I know He’ll get me through the trials to come. This is a broken world full of pain and suffering, but He has promised us that in the world to come there will be no more death, pain, or tears. That’s not in this life, but in the one to come. There are a lot of terrible injustices in this world and it can be depressing and overwhelming to think about just how many needs there exist that are not getting met. We can succumb to despair, or we can try to make a difference to at least one out there. Like that story about the child throwing sea stars back into the ocean. He couldn’t save them all, but he could make a difference to one. God makes all the difference. I’d love to be able to share that, but sadly I know that many are not ready or willing to listen. I can only pray for those that don’t. As for myself, as long as I get to be with God, I know I’ll have everything I need. If you don’t know the God of the Bible, feel free to email and ask me something and I’ll try my best to respond. I don’t know everything and keep learning new things, but I hope I can be of some help to you. We might discover some new things together. If you do know Him, then feel free to email me something as well. I could always use a little encouragement that somebody out there took the time to read something and maybe found it useful in their faith journey. Believer or not, let’s all encourage one another. It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). If you’re a believer, though not always easy, choose to be a light in a dark world. *Edit: Some of the following may already be “outdated” and therefore not advisable, but like the Bible says, “Test all things; hold fast to that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
Anthrax, West Nile, Bird Flu, Swine Flu, E. coli, Ebola, ISIS, Zika, and now the Coronavirus. The news is always sensationalizing something. Sneeze into your elbow, wash your hands, sleep, eat healthy, and exercise. Despite doing all of that, if you get sick, you get sick and in a few days you’ll feel better. Pray for those that do, but most people will not get the Coronavirus. We can take some precautions, but many people are unknowingly carriers of germs without getting sick themselves and can still spread them. We can control some things, but illness only to a certain extent. I can understand the secular world going into a panic. They don’t have God. But what’s going on with some of my brothers and sisters in Christ? Where is your faith? Trust in God who is working all things out for good (Romans 8:28). Will worry add an hour or anything to your life (see Matthew 6:27)? God cares for the sparrows, He cares for you, and He cares for your loved ones (see Matthew 6:26-34). When the disciples feared during the storm, Jesus woke up and calmed the waves (see Matthew 8:23-27 and Mark 4:38-40). Remember that God is sovereign over everything and He does care. God has not given us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). David went up against Goliath with a rock. Moses went against the Pharaoh and Egypt with just his staff. Daniel was not afraid to go into the Lion’s den. All of them knew God was on their side. When Ananias went to heal Paul’s eyes at Damascus, God told him that He’d show Paul, his “chosen instrument,” just how much he had to suffer for Him (see Acts 9). Even though he was beaten, jailed, and persecuted to the end, Paul was ready. “It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.” (Philippians 1:20). He was serving God without fear, boldly proclaiming the truth, and knew that the ultimate risk was death and even then all he wanted to do was honor Christ. “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain (Philippians 1:21). Paul remained for “fruitful labor,” for the “progress and joy in the faith” of the other believers (Philippians 1:22, 25). He would rather be in heaven with God, but he knew he had work to do and he did it with joy. Even if he died, it would all be for God and his glory. “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in heaven” (2 Corinthians 5:1). If we live, glory to God and if we die, then still glory to God because we get to go home. Jesus went to heal the sick. Mother Theresa was around the sick and dying and they called her a saint even while she was alive. The disciples were scared until the Holy Spirit empowered them to go forth and share the gospel. It doesn’t seem right to become hermits and hide from the watching secular world. Instead of joining in the panic, wouldn’t it stand out more if you showed how calm you were? Wouldn’t they wonder and ask how you can be so calm? That would be an excellent opportunity to share about the hope we have in Jesus. If you are still scared, then perhaps it is time to stop watching the sensationalist news, read your Bible, and pray for the Holy Spirit to give you peace and help you trust that whatever happens is in God’s plans. Sometimes our plans are different, but His are the ones that will happen in the end. If He is calling someone to Himself, remember that He knew them since before they were born. God made them and knows the smallest of details like how many hairs are on their head. You only knew them after they grew up. How much more do you think He loves them? It’s out of our hands, so trust it’s for the best. “For I know the plans I have for you. Plans for your welfare, not for woe. Plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). We who believe have eternal life and one day there will be no more pain, suffering, or tears (see Revelation 21:4). So stop running away from people and fantasizing about spraying them with a can of Lysol... We ought to go to the sick in love and care for them. Bring them some soup or a box of Kleenex. I’m sure you’d appreciate the same if it was you that was sick. This is especially important if they are not a believer. “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time” (Colossians 4:5). Just before that, Paul was saying to pray “that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ” (Colossians 4:3). How can we do that if we are avoiding people instead of serving them in love? Unless you’re a doctor, I don’t mean you have to go out in search of them, but if you come across someone or know a friend, family member, or neighbor that’s sick then there might be something you can do besides run the other direction. Like if you’re going to the store, call and see if your elderly neighbor needs something. Work in childcare? Aid a toddler that may need some help wiping their nose. Only one man, the good Samaritan, aided the wounded man (see Luke 10:25-37). Would you be one of the ones to just walk by? Whatever you do to the least of these you do to Jesus (see Matthew 25:40). Jesus was God, but think then what would Paul do? Honor Christ whether by life or death. We obey Ceasar to an extent, but God and His plans always come first. Jesus said give unto Ceasar what is Ceasar’s, but also to go and do likewise showing mercy like the good Samaritan. As Paul said, make the most of every opportunity (Colossians 4:5). Again, God knows what each of us can do and to those than are given much he expects much. If you were given less, then you do what you can with that (see the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30). I’m not trying to tell you what to do or how to do it, just to consider the ways that God has blessed you and how you can use that for His glory. I am also not saying that if you’re scared that’s wrong. We all have different fears and strengths and we’ve got to encourage one another. I have written about some of my fears and sometimes I need reminders myself. We are all different parts of the body with different functions. If you don’t cook, maybe send them a message or a card to encourage them. Cover somebody with a blanket or give them one if they don’t have one. If “one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” (James 2:16). I also don’t mean for people that are already “at-risk” like with compromised immune systems, the elderly, people that can’t afford to get sick because they’re living paycheck to paycheck, etcetera to do something that could hurt their families. Take everybody and everything into consideration. If the least you can do at this point is to pray for the sick, then start there. If you know you can do more, then take advantage of the opportunity to be God’s hands and light in the world. Whether in sickness or in health, may God’s peace be with you now and always. |
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July 2020
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