Speak Life....Encourage...Strengthen

Isaiah 35:3-4 -  With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees.  Say to those who are afraid, "Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you."

 

With all the gloom and doom messages Isaiah had to deliver...this message of hope must have been a welcome breath of freshness. For once he got to deliver a message of hope….and remind us that part of our calling as chosen followers of Christ is to help spread hope and love to the hurting in the world.

 

He said simply…give strength…speak life into those tired hands you meet.  He said simply…encourage those people that God allows you to meet that have not weathered a storm very well.  He said simply….tell others that your knees were meant to be on the ground more than they were meant to walk…..because humble fervent prayer is the strongest weapon we have against sadness….evil…and pain.

 

He did not tell us to pick and choose which people to do this for…he just said do it.  I know that I know that I know…that God places people in our pathway to see if we will obey this command. I also know that I know that I know…that sometimes those people are also angels….sent to test us.

 

It reminds me of that scripture in Matthew 25….where everyone was confused cause Jesus said they had helped him.  They knew they had never seen him before...let alone done anything for him personally.  He said… translation mine …if you have done it unto anyone ….you have done it unto me. 

 

I admit that I have failed a bunch of tests that were never on a piece of paper at school.  The tests I failed were life encounters where I looked the other way at the dirty woman who was walking down the street with an armload of groceries.  Or the time I thought to myself...that man begging next to the road is one of those imposters that makes a million a year dressing up like a hobo and begging a few weeks out of the year.   Or perhaps it was the phone call I didn’t answer because I didn’t want to deal with the drama I ‘thought’ I would encounter when I picked up the phone.

 

I can remember times when I got it right…so my grade point average isn’t 0.  But that is just another way of making myself feel better about the tests I failed.  If my grade point average isn’t a 4.0….then I still got some studying and attitude changes to make.

 

Father…thank you for reminding me that every thought I have should be a breath of new life that builds people up.  Forgive me for the tests I failed and help me to see clearly the redo’s you will send my way to check if I mean what I say.  Help me to make the changes in my attitude that will allow you to use me to encourage…to strengthen…and to give courage to those around me. Amen.