Saturday, February 28, 2009
Encouragement
Today I finished my latest journal, Episode 21. I started the journal on a very rough note at a rather rough time in my life. I had just come out of one of the worst relationship experiences, no THE worst relationship experience of my life and I was really down. My first journal entry was rather sad and full of a lot of self guilt and self deprecation. It's encouraging to me to be closing out the Episode on a rather good note. So I thought, in light of encouragement, I'd share it here.
"Have no fear of sudden disaster
or the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
For the Lord will be your confidence
and will keep your foot from being snared.
Do not withhold good from those who deserve it,
when it is in your power to act."
- Proverbs 3:25-27
Right now our economy is floundering, things are the worst they have been since the early 1980's if not teetering on going back to the Great Depression. This winter has been one for the body and soul of America - and the world for that matter. So it is easy to get down about it all and to worry about the future, about calamity waiting behind door #2. But as Christians, God makes it clear to us to not worry - to believe that he is taking care of us. We can see that in Proverbs 3:25, but that does not mean that God will always protect us from disaster, or that harm will not come to us. If harm does come, if disaster rears its head, we do not need to fear it because God himself is our confidence. The Lord is greater than disaster, than our circumstances, than the economy.
And how does God strengthen and encourage us? How does he build his confidence into us? Verse 27 - he does it through us! Now is the time to encourage each other daily (Heb 3:13) and to do good to each other as much as we can!
Last night, this morning actually, I had a dream where a guy and his girlfriend were at some festival passing out flyers for an upcoming Christian concert and I stopped at their table to sign up. While I was there a song came on their radio by some Contemporary Christian artist singing about the judgement of God being poured out on people today, and they were going along with the song, singing. I got really angry and started shouting NO! No, No No - God does not judge people while they are here - God is the champion of all of us. He wants everyone to come to him while they can! It was this message - that we must do good to ALL people. We must bring encouragement to ALL. We must love while we can.
It reminded me of one of my favorite verses, II Samuel 14:14 - God does not take away life, instead he devises ways that a banished person may not remain estranged from him. If God is devising ways to bring those far from him back to him, how much more is he excited about those who love him now? And if he is that excited about us, if he loves us that much, how important is it that we shower each other with the same kind of love and encouragement?
Let us bring love and encouragement to each other as much as we can, and while we can.
Today I finished my latest journal, Episode 21. I started the journal on a very rough note at a rather rough time in my life. I had just come out of one of the worst relationship experiences, no THE worst relationship experience of my life and I was really down. My first journal entry was rather sad and full of a lot of self guilt and self deprecation. It's encouraging to me to be closing out the Episode on a rather good note. So I thought, in light of encouragement, I'd share it here.
"Have no fear of sudden disaster
or the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
For the Lord will be your confidence
and will keep your foot from being snared.
Do not withhold good from those who deserve it,
when it is in your power to act."
- Proverbs 3:25-27
Right now our economy is floundering, things are the worst they have been since the early 1980's if not teetering on going back to the Great Depression. This winter has been one for the body and soul of America - and the world for that matter. So it is easy to get down about it all and to worry about the future, about calamity waiting behind door #2. But as Christians, God makes it clear to us to not worry - to believe that he is taking care of us. We can see that in Proverbs 3:25, but that does not mean that God will always protect us from disaster, or that harm will not come to us. If harm does come, if disaster rears its head, we do not need to fear it because God himself is our confidence. The Lord is greater than disaster, than our circumstances, than the economy.
And how does God strengthen and encourage us? How does he build his confidence into us? Verse 27 - he does it through us! Now is the time to encourage each other daily (Heb 3:13) and to do good to each other as much as we can!
Last night, this morning actually, I had a dream where a guy and his girlfriend were at some festival passing out flyers for an upcoming Christian concert and I stopped at their table to sign up. While I was there a song came on their radio by some Contemporary Christian artist singing about the judgement of God being poured out on people today, and they were going along with the song, singing. I got really angry and started shouting NO! No, No No - God does not judge people while they are here - God is the champion of all of us. He wants everyone to come to him while they can! It was this message - that we must do good to ALL people. We must bring encouragement to ALL. We must love while we can.
It reminded me of one of my favorite verses, II Samuel 14:14 - God does not take away life, instead he devises ways that a banished person may not remain estranged from him. If God is devising ways to bring those far from him back to him, how much more is he excited about those who love him now? And if he is that excited about us, if he loves us that much, how important is it that we shower each other with the same kind of love and encouragement?
Let us bring love and encouragement to each other as much as we can, and while we can.
Labels: Christian living, encouragement, Proverbs
