My pastor preached yet another powerful sermon using Barnabas as the focal character to drive home the potency of encouragement. He is basically a little known character in the Bible but made his mark by his drive to lift people around him, such as Paul, to higher levels. The message has so touched me that I have invested some time digging deeper in the meaning of encouragement. So I went to Webster for some synonyms:
Synonyms: boost, impulse, goad, impetus, incentive, incitation, incitement, instigation, momentum, motivation, provocation, spur, stimulant, stimulus, yeast
Pretty heavy lifting words in a world that is screaming for more people to encourage more people and organizations and systems. In looking at the word, the root of the word is what leaps of the screen to me which is "courage." So a word, a handshake, a card, a letter, an email, etc can inspire a person to take on more courage, wow? As I listened to Dr. Frazier and knowing him as I do, here is a man heading a large church with a large set of complexities on a daily basis and he exhibits the gift of encouragement in so many ways. I also then realized the many people I encounter of a daily basis that, well, don't utilize that powerful tool.
If you look at the context of all the synonyms for encouragement you see that there is kinetic energy is the verb or the movement of energy from one point to another. Kinetic energy is something you can see, watch, realize something did in fact just happen as a result of an act or action. Those of you that know me, really know me, know I love to be an encouragement to anyone around me. Those of you that do not yet really know me, like a new semester of students, probably sense overwhelming concern about the journey before them.
Encouragement is a life preserver for the drowning regardless of what your sea might be. I love to sing but not for the sake of singing for singing, to me, is a powerful mode of encouraging people. When you sing the gospel through music, you see quickly the music and the message of the song is touching people where they are hurting. Sure, it is easy to just enjoy the rhythms or melodies or the parts but when you listen to the message of a song a writer somewhere was inspired to write, and see a heart touched via tears, a smile, a gentle head nod or just face of relaxation, then you know the joy of singing to encourage.
Souls in danger, look above, Jesus completely saves,
He will lift you by His love, out of the angry waves.
He’s the Master of the sea, billows His will obey,
He your Savior wants to be, be saved today.
Read those words and feel that message by that great hymn, Love Lifted Me. You cannot help but feel encouraged if you are in your sea of pain and distress and we all try to row through our own waves don't we? So my challenge, as my Pastor challenged us ... find a way TODAY to encourage someone. Find something good a person does, LOOK FOR IT, and tell them how much you appreciate it. There is power, kinetic energy, that is unleashed the moment it happens.
Be and ENCOURAGER!
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