Your Daily Devotional for July 25, 2006

 

July 25, 2006

 

Persistent in Encouragement

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

“And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few. And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.”

 

1 Samuel 14:6-7

 

In these verses, we see King Saul’s son Jonathan and his armor-bearer getting ready to attack the enemy. Jonathan had taken his armor-bearer and had sneaked over to the enemy’s camp at night to attack the camp. Jonathan believed that the Lord could help them defeat the enemy.

 

When Jonathan tells this young man his plan, his armor-bearer tells him that he would follow him wherever Jonathan’s heart led him. The armor-bearer knew that Jonathan was a godly man and that he was following the Lord’s leading so he had no problem following him.

 

What an encouragement he must have been to Jonathan! Have you ever felt discouraged and someone came alongside of you and encouraged you? Remember what it felt like to be encouraged in the Lord? Don’t you want to be an encouragement to someone else today?

 

Romans 12:10 says, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.” We need to focus not on our own needs, but on the needs of those around us. Someone once said, “There is always someone else fighting a harder battle than you.” If you stop to think about it, that statement is so true! When we focus on our own problems, we miss the chance to help encourage someone else who is fighting a harder battle.

 

Can you think of someone you know that is going through a tough time? Maybe they lost their job, their car broke down, one of their loved ones died, or they are having health issues. You can be an encouragement to them! By simply writing a note, giving them a call, or baking them some cookies, you can lift their spirits and let them know that someone cares about them!

 

At sixteen years of age, Edward Steichen bought a camera and took fifty photos. Only one turned out—a portrait of his sister at the piano. Edward’s father thought that was a poor showing, but his mother insisted that the photograph of his sister was so beautiful that it more than compensated for forty-nine failures. Her encouragement convinced the youngster to stick with his new hobby. He stayed with it for the rest of his life and became one of the world’s most renowned photographers.

 

Friend, who do you know that needs encouragement? You don’t have to do something big, just take a little time to let someone know that you care. Maybe that one little note will make the difference to someone who was otherwise ready to give up!

 

Today, I want to leave you with some “homework.” Write at least one encouraging note to somebody who might be going through a battle. Lift their spirit by encouraging them with a verse or thought from God’s Word. This is your first step to being persistent in encouragement.

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