Whenever I leave
for a trip Lisa and our children have always found a way to sneak notes of
encouragement into my luggage. Now I am
not referring to a one note from each of them lying on the top of my clothes
just inside the luggage but varied and many notes of scripture and words of
encouragement all through the suitcase.
For instance, I might find one lying on the top that says, “I will miss
you” and another buried deep inside that says, “I am proud of you.” Then later in the week I might pull out a
shirt and inside the shirt one says, “I believe in you” only to find one next
to a pair of socks that says “God is going to use you this week.” This tradition has been something Lisa
started when we first got married and I would leave for trips in which she
could not go. Then when Raegan and Noah
came on the scene she would add notes from them to accompany her notes before
they could even speak only to teach them this time honored tradition as they go
older.
Why would she do
this? Because she loves me, cares about
me, and wants to express that sentiment to encourage me. We each need this type of encouragement and
affirmation. William Arthur Ward is
quoted as saying, “Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I
may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I
will not forget you.” There are certain
people God places in our lives who are encouragers and we need those
people. If you don’t believe that people
need encouragement then listen to this old story about an elderly widow who was
restricted in her activities, but was still eager to serve Christ by
encouraging others. It seems the elderly lady, after praying about this, realized
that she could bring blessing to others by using her God given talent in playing
the piano. The next day she placed this small ad in the Oakland Tribune:
"Pianist will play hymns by phone daily for those who are sick and
despondent--the service is free." She placed her phone number in the advertisement
and waited to see what, if any, response she might receive. Soon people began to call. As she spoke with them and listened to their
troubles she would ask, "What hymn would you like to hear?" Within a
few months her playing had brought cheer to several hundred people. Many of
them freely poured out their hearts to her, and through this ministry of music she
was able to help and encourage them. This
story goes to prove people are looking for encouragement and we have the
opportunity to offer it in many creative ways, if we will take the time.
Unfortunately
there are also many people who possess the opposite of encouragement. They have the “anti-spiritual gift” of
discouragement. These are people Satan
leads to discourage us through criticism, hateful words and tones. The reality is that too many people are way
too good at performing this task. In
addition, we are way too prone to let the negatives of what people say and do
influence us too greatly. For some
reason we are geared to let the one negative carry much more weight than ten
positives. While we are appreciative of
the positives we tend to linger on the lone negative. As Bob Newhart told a patient who came to him
in a sketch where he played a psychiatrist, “Stop It!” We must stop allowing the negatives to drive
our emotions and feelings of adequacy.
In closing let
me encourage you to be an encourager. We
must be about the business of building one another up instead of tearing each
other down. Scripture charges us to “encourage
one another and build each other up as you (we) are already doing.” (1 Thess.
5:11) Paul challenged the church at
Thessalonica to take their deeds of encouragement to a deeper level. Why, because he knew the hearts of
people. He knew that it takes much more
encouragement in a world of discouragement.
Times may have changed in many ways since Paul wrote this letter but one
thing has stayed constant, people need lots of encouragement. Take time today to send someone a note of encouragement. Offer someone a random act of kindness, even
do this to someone you do not know! Take
time to be an encourager but also rid yourself of any hints of discouragement
which might linger in your old nature.
Hey Church
Family, God loves you and I do too,
Pastor Ric
you are invited to follow my blog
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