Finding Encouragement
Thinking I would check in on my out-of-town friend yesterday, I asked, “How are you doing?” when she answered the phone. She hesitated and in a low tone said slowly, “O.K… I guess.”
“That doesn’t sound good. Is everything really alright?,” I responded.
“Well, I had a scare last week. I was more tired than usual for several weeks. After a pretty bad tiff with my husband, it felt like my chest closed up and I could hardly breath.”
“Do you think it was a heart attack?…Did you go to the doctor?” I queried.
“I did. And after he checked everything and we talked, he said it was anxiety. I explained that all my activities had stopped. We stay in the house all the time and my husband is glued to the news. I think I’ve just had enough. I can’t take any more of the stress of this whole thing.”
I immediately told her I, like seemingly everyone in America, was experiencing cabin fever, too. Just this week, Reen and I decided to severely limit our TV news watching. We, too, have tired of the repetitious reporting and constantly hyped “news alerts.” He encouraged me to get out of the house and get out in the sunshine. I suggested she consider doing the same.
I explained that we’ve resumed our daily walk in the morning. We’ve taken a picnic lunch to the park along the water, easily socially distancing from others. We’re spending positive time with God and each other. And I actually went to the Big Lots store yesterday just to walk around, avoiding any aisles where others were shopping…imagining my future enjoyment as I decorate our new home and entertain friends again. I encouraged her to get out and let her mind focus on something normal and enjoyable.
She seemed so encouraged before we hung up the phone. I realized that this is the most important thing we can offer our world right now… encouragement.
It’s interesting that during the quiet time I spent with Jesus one morning this week, He reminded me of the Bible words, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,”…(Hebrews 3:13) As long “as it is called Today” refers to the fact that until Jesus returns, each and every day is a day that we can live a refreshed life and reach out to others with hope and encouragement.
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing,” writes Paul to the Thessalonian believers.
And today I was reminded of King David and his response during a terribly difficult time in his life. We are told, “David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”
We can all do that. We can remember throughout every day that God is still on the throne, He loves and cares for us, and He will somehow, in ways we can’t even imagine, work all this for good in our lives and for His glory.
That does not mean that we don’t first step into sorrow and grieve the realization that we have no control over the chaos of life itself, grieve the fact that our coping mechanisms to control the chaos don’t work, grieve for those who have lost their lives, grieve the reality that we have no idea what the “new normal” will look like after the pandemic, and grieve the sadness we all feel at being kept from friends and family at such a difficult time.
But we are not being irresponsible, or foolish (nor do we need to fear that some terrible outcome will take place), if we simply focus our minds on God, trusting Him, and consider the “normal’ things in life rather than be consumed with this pandemic.
Remember, the news anchors have no choice. This is their job to spend their lives focused on the news. It’s not your life. You are not succumbing to blindness. You know exactly what’s going on. Instead this is a realignment of thinking.
SO today, let’s begin encouraging ourselves in the Lord and reach out to encourage those around us!
(I’ve postponed the May newsletter to next week due to an exciting announcement to be made.)
