I have been noticing lately how very discouraged we often become as we go through a regular day. There are minor set backs, like my jeans aren't fitting anymore or my kid forgot his lunch or the electric bill is $106 higher than last month. There are hurtful moments like my husband was irritable with me or my coworkers forgot my birthday or no one noticed my new hair cut. There are major setbacks like we won't be getting a paycheck this month or my mom is in the hospital not doing well or a close friend is moving away.
You know what makes it better? Remembering Jesus and encouragement from loved ones.
Sometimes I think when we see a friend going through a tough time we want so badly for them to feel better we believe we must somehow solve the problem to be of any help. So we either begin to offer lots of opinion, advice or instruction or we simply say "I'll be praying" and pull back. But, the truth is we don't need to take problems away to be a blessing to our friends and family when they are down. The best encouragement we can give them is to "Consider Him, who endured such opposition from sinful men so you do not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:3) When we are reminded of what Christ did on our behalf, we gain strength to continue to face a broken and painful world. He faced the worst of it already- for me! So that I could be reconciled to God forever. "These light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all!" (2 Cor. 4:17)
In addition to reminding of the gospel, we can remind others of our love. There are so many times where I was feeling a little down or discouraged and a text or email would come from a friend saying I was thinking of you and I love you. Didn't take away any of my circumstances, but reminded me I'm not alone. Often what I hear the women around me doing is subtly (or not so subtly) putting themselves down. Feeling like a "weirdo" or strange, they call themselves names or minimize their feelings or apologize for having them. One of the best things we can do is speak truth to each other at those times.
You know what makes it better? Remembering Jesus and encouragement from loved ones.
Sometimes I think when we see a friend going through a tough time we want so badly for them to feel better we believe we must somehow solve the problem to be of any help. So we either begin to offer lots of opinion, advice or instruction or we simply say "I'll be praying" and pull back. But, the truth is we don't need to take problems away to be a blessing to our friends and family when they are down. The best encouragement we can give them is to "Consider Him, who endured such opposition from sinful men so you do not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:3) When we are reminded of what Christ did on our behalf, we gain strength to continue to face a broken and painful world. He faced the worst of it already- for me! So that I could be reconciled to God forever. "These light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all!" (2 Cor. 4:17)
In addition to reminding of the gospel, we can remind others of our love. There are so many times where I was feeling a little down or discouraged and a text or email would come from a friend saying I was thinking of you and I love you. Didn't take away any of my circumstances, but reminded me I'm not alone. Often what I hear the women around me doing is subtly (or not so subtly) putting themselves down. Feeling like a "weirdo" or strange, they call themselves names or minimize their feelings or apologize for having them. One of the best things we can do is speak truth to each other at those times.
It's okay to be who and where you are!
God loves you, always.
This is temporary- it will pass.
Life is hard, but God is good.
I am here for you anytime!
So if you are having one of those minor or major discouragement kind of days, take heart. There is a Savior who loves you, and who will one day make all things new. In the meantime, He can change you in spite of all the brokenness of this world. He is at work whether you see Him or not. If you don't know Him, I'd love to share how he changed my life, so send me a message with your email and we can talk about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment