Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Everyone needs enocuragement

Whew! It's been a long time writing on this blog. Here goes:

Lately I have been in contact with several people, whether it be on-line or in person that needed some sort of encouragement. A passage of Scripture always popped in my head -
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 -
That is why we never give up! Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

So I shared those verse with them, adding to their status or telling them.
The responses have been - "Thanks I needed that", "So, So true", "Amen, Amen", "Wow that's powerful, etc.
It does make me feel good that people were encouraged by it. Ever since I memorized
2 Corinthians 4:16-18, I remind myself of the verses in times that are hard or confusing for me. I always want others to be reminded that this time in life will pass and there are better days to come. I could have just responded to them with a "I'm sorry" or "This is what you should do..", instead I just shared the verses with them. There at times we don't know what to say or all we can think is the cliche words to sympathize with them. They usually don't work and at times make things worse.
I like how in Acts 4, a man born with the name Joseph, gets a nickname, Barnabas. Barnabas means, son of Encouragement, a great nickname to have. He was so well known for being an encourager they just called him, Barnabas. I know I am not the most encouraging to people all the time, and sometimes I am lacking in mercy. I know many have not gone through what I have, but they have bad days too. It might seem small to me, but it's different to them. Everyone needs encouragement so why not give it? It can be awkward and we might not have the right words to say to them, but maybe a verse or even a ear for them to talk into. We might not get the nickname for being encouraging, but we should always remember, everyone struggles, so let's try to be encouraging when they are.

2 comments:

Jeanne Owens said...

Hi Dan, Thanks for the reminder to use His Word as we encourage others instead of trying to 'fix' the problem ourselves!
Keep up the good work Dan! Galations 6:9

Unknown said...

You are always encouraging to me... even when I'm not as encouraging as I should be to you. I love you.