When we face struggles, obstacles, or shocking circumstances, we need encouraging words. At the heart of encouragement is the release of courage into another person.
Hours after Rozy’s high school graduation ceremony, she and I were with a team traveling to Tanzania, East Africa. We ministered in Arusha, the same city where Patti, Rozy, Kimberlyn and I will be traveling with another team later this year. In 2010, we enjoyed a day and half of photo safari in the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro crater. We saw the “big five” and more! Our tour guides told us we were safe within our open-sided vehicles. Our guide said we were safe – okay – here comes the lions.
Another VFCA 2010 grad Jessie Miller (left) and Rozy didn’t scare much as this lioness came within a few feet of us. Actually, we came close to LOTS of animals. I find it amazing that a comment from someone whom we think knows something, releases confidence.
The Concise Oxford English Dictionary (11th ed, 2004) defines encourage : “give support, confidence, or hope to; help or stimulate the development of .” “The word encourage means literally ‘to put courage into another person.’ We share encouragement with others so that they might have more courage to live victoriously in this world (Charles Stanley, Sharing the Gift of Encouragement, 1998).”
Have you ever noticed Paul’s courage in the midst of a storm (Acts 27)? Paul stands assured of God’s protection and encourages his fellow passengers. Paul did it, and you can, too! “If our hearts bear the anchors of the Lord’s presence, ownership, and service, we will be able to stand tall in any storm. Truly trusting and resting in God’s omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence will enable us to be men of courage and to shout words of encouragement above the storm (R. Kent Hughes, Acts: The Church Afire, 1996, p.336). Display faith in the face of life’s storms!
Five hundred years before the birth of the Messiah, King Hezekiah understood the power of words in a time of crisis. As the massive Assyrian army besieged Jerusalem, Sennacherib, king of Assryia, used psychological warfare sending ominous messages of his evil intent. King Hezekiah
- turned Sennacherib’s threats into prayer points,
- embraced God’s Word from Isaiah, and
- then encouraged (2 Chronicles 32:6) the leaders defending Jerusalem with these words:
“Be strong! Take courage! Don’t be intimidated by the king of Assyria and his troops—there are more on our side than on their side. He only has a bunch of mere men; we have our God to help us and fight for us!” Morale surged. Hezekiah’s words put steel in their spines. (2 Chronicles 32:7-8 MSG)
The cuneiform inscription upon a hexagonal clay prism found at Nineveh in 1830 boasts of Sennacherib’s victories over 46 Judean cities. The third column of text on “Sennacherib’s Prism” (also called “The Taylor Cylinder”), records that the Jew Hezekiah: “Himself I made a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage.” (The Ancient Near East an Anthology of Texts and Pictures, 1969, p. 288)
Apparently, the Assyrian monarch wanted to overlook what happened next; the Prism fails to mention the reason for Sennacherib’s sudden departure (you can read what happens in 2 Kings 19:35-37; 2 Chronicles 32:21; and Isaiah 37:36-38). Hezekiah’s faith-filled encouraging words were accurate. The Lord came through for Judah in a BIG WAY!
Encouragement energizes exploits. Let your words impart courage to another.
