ENCOURAGING ONE ANOTHER

Encouraging One Another

“So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”                             1 Thess. 5:11 (NLT)

Every person at one time or another has times when they become so discouraged that they don’t know how to get out of it.  Some call it “down in the dumps”.  When I think of discouragement, I think about what David wrote in Psalm 40:2 (NKJV) “He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock.” 

In my own life I have gone through some deep places and honestly didn’t know how to pull myself out.  In time I realized that my only help was to call on the Lord.  There was the time I was on a dark, slippery road at night and my car began to spin out of control.  I did the only thing I could and I cried out, “Help me, Jesus” and still my car spun.  When it stopped, it was headed in the opposite direction in a ditch and rolled part of the way over and then righted itself.  I was on a back road in a ditch and praising God for not getting hurt, but here I sat, not knowing what to do.  Then I felt prompted to step on the gas and I came out of that ditch and turned in the middle of the road and continued on to my church.  I was directing a musical I didn’t want to be late.  I pulled into the parking lot, parked my car and went in to rehearsal.

 My husband was going to meet me there and so he parked next to me and saw the side of my car was smashed in, the mirror torn off and a flat tire.  He came running in to find me directing and stopped me to see if I was hurt.  I wasn’t and didn’t even know the car was damaged and tire never flattened until after I arrived.  Yes, God pulled me out of a miry pit and set my feet on solid ground.

Romans 12:8 (NLT)  gives this advice, “If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging.”  I don’t claim to have the gift of ‘encouragement’, but there have been many times when on impulse (divine direction) to stop and visit different people.  The first words out of their mouth were, “You came right when I needed someone”, or “I know God sent you today.”  What we might think is just an impulse, can most likely direction from God.

The Apostle Paul knew how important it was to give encouragement to people and he sent messengers to a church in Antioch with a letter of encouragement.  It says that there was great joy throughout the church that day as they read this encouraging message. (Acts 15:32 (NLT)

In I Timothy 4:13, Timothy, sent a message to a church and here is what he said, “Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them.”  These disciples in the early church knew what we have lost track of in the church of today.  He said, ‘FOCUS’, focus on these 3 things; read the scriptures, encourage each other and teach them.  The Bible is so full of God’s love and he encourages us as we study it.  Look around you; do you see anyone that looks discouraged?  Go to them and talk to them and God will give you the right words to speak to that person. 

Haven’t you noticed some people have this worried look on their face and you know how heavy their heart is?  God tells us just how to handle people that are anxious and worried.  “Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.” (Proverbs 12:25 (NLT)  Just one encouraging word can change the attitude. 

I had this happen to me not long ago.  I was feeling a little down because I was sick and I just plain felt ugly that day.  This woman sat next to me and said hello and I smiled at her in response.  Then she said, “I like your outfit; it’s really cute.”  It perked me right up and I no longer felt so dumpy.  We chatted a bit and shared some things.  To me, that was so encouraging and I felt better the rest of the day.  See, it can be a very simple thing to encourage one another.

Your Bible may not even have the word ‘encouragement’, or encouraging in it, but it uses other words that mean the same like, ‘edification’ or ‘exhortation’.  It may use words like ‘lifting up’, but it is full of encouragement.  God does not want us to be so down, we get stuck in ‘miry clay’.  We may have to encourage ourselves as it tells us in Psalm 42:11, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him.” 

God is the answer, my friend; go to him in prayer.  When you are in the deepest despair, he will hear you and lift you up.  Why wait, you may not be doing much for yourself – try God.  He understands your every need.  I hope I have encouraged you today.  Don’t give up, don’t be cast down; God has a plan and a future for you if you let him into your heart.