Day 23: Words of Encouragement

The other day a friend invited me to breakfast.  She wanted to thank me.  "Thank me for what?" I thought.

It turns out, she appreciated a program that I had been a part of.  She had been positively impacted by this endeovor and just wanted to take the time to show her appreciation.

I was surprised because the results, so far, had been a let-down for me.

The kind gesture touched my heart so much.  She was a very busy woman herself, and to go out of her way to thank me, really meant a lot to me.  

 

This morning, we met for breakfast and had a very sweet time chatting over breakfast.  It became a time of woman to woman bonding, where we both shared our hearts, as we dialogued about our children and life in general.

 

When we parted company, I felt deeply encouraged by our meeting together. Deep in thought, countless faces went through my mind, thinking about the encouragement so many people had brought into my life.

Kind words spoken by the ones who make their way into our lives when we find ourselves in situations that call for a word of encouragement to get us through. We need a cheering voice to let us know "I know you can!"

 

I started to think how encouraging God's word is,

giving us hope in the faith we have

and it gives me a better appreciation for the Body of Christ when I see that God's design was for His children to encourage each other.

As I looked to a few examples of biblical encouragement I saw a picture of a passionately loving God who didn't leave us here to make our way through life alone.

 

God tells Moses to encourage Joshua.  Deuteronomy 3:28

The church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria is encouraged by the Holy Spirit, Acts 9:31

Paul and Silas encouraged the community of believers. Acts 16:40

The Lord hears the desire of the afflicted and encourages them. Psalm 10:27

And us, we are called to... encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today."  Hebrews 3:13

 Today I received hope because a friend's words and deeds spoke of the encouragement I needed to receive.

Have you been blessed with words of encouragement lately?

Join me daily in blessing others around us with hope, by sharing the gift of encouragement.

Hebrews10:23-24

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful and let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds...

What words of encouragement will you speak to someone today?