Proverbs 12:25
Worry weighs us down;
a cheerful word picks us up.
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
About 20 years ago, the
father of a young man who was our youth pastor suffered a heart attack
and died. Several church members traveled to another state to attend
the funeral and support this young man and his family during their time
of grief. After the service, one of these members told the young man,
“Son, it’s going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.”
Later, the youth minister said to me, “WHY would anyone say that to me?
That was NOT what I needed to hear!” All I could do was shake my head,
say I was sorry, and tell him that I had no clue what would cause
someone to say such a thing. In all honesty, it would have been better
if that “brother in Christ” had stayed home!
Let’s be real…what
the man said may have very well been true…but did it help this person to
heal from his grief? Did it offer hope and a promise of better days?
What would have been wrong with saying, “Give yourself time…things WILL
get better”…or “We’re gonna help you get through today…and tomorrow,
we’ll do it again.” Where was the testimony that God grants us peace
and helps us to heal from sadness and sorrow?
And where in your
daily conversation, are you the “Grand Master of Gloom and Doom?” Do
you see the world as a “glass half empty?” Or is your “glass” half
full? Because EVERYONE has worries and concerns. No one is immune to
problems, stresses and challenges. But we Christians are supposed to
have a built-in support system in form of the Holy Spirit! We are
supposed to trust that the God we serve is bigger than any of our
struggles…that there is no mountain too high for Him to climb…no grief
too big for Him to manage and comfort…no disease that He cannot heal…and
no problem that He cannot solve.
I don’t mean to imply that we
should be phonies…that there are not times in all of our lives when “the
chips are down,” and we can’t help but show it. But when we hang out
in the “Land of Worries and Negativity” or enjoy a pity party just a tad
too long or too often, we totally blow our demonstration of the power,
strength, grace and mercy that we claim to have through Jesus Christ.
When we offer others pitiful consolation, as this church member did for a
grieving young man, we have failed miserably to be a light for Christ!
Let’s
ALL check our thoughts and actions and see where we have let worry and
pessimism creep into our vocabulary and our demonstrations. Let’s ask
God to help us get back on track…to project a genuine hope and
encouragement based in personal experience that God is able to do…” far
more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest
dreams!”(Ephesians 3:20) Let’s operate in encouragement rather than
worry - and be living examples of the hope of Jesus in motion. I’m
ready to give it a whirl…are you?
©2015 Debbie Robus
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