Encouragement

Ever had a difficult period in your life?  Things not going well.  In a hole spiritually, emotionally, physically, or financially?  There are those that do not recover.  As believers there are times when we do not do well helping those who struggle.

I met recently with one who had been through a dark time.  They are out of that phase of life now.  This past few months have been very hard for my wife and I for a number of reasons.  In the conversation with my friend they shared freely about the struggles they had experienced and the way the Lord had used others to help them handle that load.

They then asked me several questions about what we have been doing for the past several years.  Their response to what I shared was affirming and encouraging.  Their encouragement was timely.  The struggles we have had have in the past months have caused me to question if I should continue to push through this – what Gladwell labels a dip.  My friend’s enthusiasm for what I shared was like a spring rain on a parched ground.

2 Corinthians 1:3 – 5 tells us that the junk – that is in the original – we go through is preparation to comfort others.  My friend did that.  I left that conversation comforted, encouraged, and recharged.

It reminds me that the “junk” has a purpose.  It is prep for me to comfort, encourage, and recharge others.  That was a good and timely reminder.