Encouraging One Another

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God (2 Corinthians 1:3 (NIV).

Had some good daddy-daughter time with my oldest daughter on Saturday. She’s been pretty down lately. When we started off I said, “Maggie, you and I both have been feeling down lately. Maybe we both can help each other feel better.” She didn’t respond much. Just a grunt while she looked out the window.

We talked, did some grocery shopping, and had some lunch. Before long she was holding her head up again. And it wasn’t long after that she smiled. By the time were headed home she was laughing again and we were telling jokes to each other.

What we did was nothing out of the ordinary. But there is something that the Spirit does when you take the time to love another person that transforms the ordinary into extraordinary. One would not expect the fog of depression or the cold of sadness to be lifted by going to Market Basket and WalMart. The Spirit does not need a special place to work His love and healing into our weary souls. He needs only have a willingness in me to work with Him (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). It was amazing to see how much He was able to do: how He directed my words, how He opened her heart and ears to hear the love I have for her, that Jesus has for her, and that she is both loved and worthy of love.

Both Maggie and I still had our problems when we got back home. But we were not focused so much on them any more. Jesus had called our attention away from the wind and back to Him (Matthew 14:31). And that made all the difference.