Encouragement

Question: when was the last time you really encouraged someone?  There are many people that need encouragement that we come in contact with but many times instead of encouraging them, we end up discouraging them.  We say things without thinking at times and we cause more damage than help. There seems to be so many things to be discouraged about, that encouraging people are needed.  

Are you one of these kinds of people that go around encouraging people or are you a complainer and a negative thinker?  I know there are plenty of things to complain about, and the older I get, the easier it is to complain and even feel sorry for myself.  But even with that said I try to encourage others.  I am learning that it is much better to look at the good in a person’s life than always looking for the negative things you can come up with.  I know what it is to be a very negative person and I think the positive person is far nicer to be around.

On the other hand, a positive person can be so full of themselves that it is a hindrance for them, and a form of pride; I think most of us have been there also.  Have you ever been in a restaurant and commented to the waiter or waitress relating to them how good you thought they took care of you?  I know you do that with a tip, but your words can brighten up someone’s day also.  We have so many opportunities that we can encourage and we let them slip by without a word.

The other day two of my daughters were in a restaurant in town, sitting by a window and there was a man that kept looking in the window and it started to bother them.  The man came inside and looked around then he went back outside and walked back and forth, and came back inside and went to the owner at the cash register.  After he left she came over and told them that he had paid their bill for them.  They were still curious as to why he did that so they asked a waitress about it and she told them that he had done that on other occasions also.  All he was doing was blessing them, which made them very happy in the end.  In this case, it was a case of misjudging the man’s motive which happens far too often.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that we should just trust everyone, not at all, but this was an act of encouragement without words.  I know that sometimes when you try to encourage someone it will be taken the wrong way, but don’t let that stop you just keep doing it because people need it.

When Saul was going down the road to Damascus to arrest the people of The Way, he had a conversion experience.  He saw a light that was so bright that it blinded him and heard the Lord speaking too him.  To make a long story short, Saul’s name was changed to Paul and he wanted to join the apostles and disciples but they knew who he was and were afraid of him, but Barnabas took him and explained his situation to them and they accepted Paul.

Read Acts 9:26-30, “And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him. When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus.”

Paul was an encouragement and blessing to Paul.  Then we hear about Barnabas again later on, and by the way his name meant, ‘the son of encouragement.’  When he and Paul got in a heated dispute on their second missionary trip, Barnabas encouraged John Mark by sticking with him when Paul refused to take him because he had left them earlier for reasons we don’t know.  But as time went by, Mark became vital to Paul’s ministry.

Read Acts 15:36-41, “Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.’ Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.”

Now read Colossians 4:10, “Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, with Mark the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him),”

Sometimes it seems like people give up on us and we need people like Barnabas in the world to stand by us and believe in us.  We need someone to hold us up when we have blown it, to help us get back on track.  I hope you are a Barnabas but, if not, you can be if you choose to be.  Something to think about!  May the good Lord grant you a special day and may He bless you and yours!!