Encouragement Goes A Long Way

In one of his books, Rich DeVos told a story about a staying in a vacation cottage during the summer. During his retreat, DeVos noticed the garbage collector making his rounds. This man showed up precisely at 6:30 AM once a week, moving from cottage to cottage carefully so as not to awaken people. The man was graceful in how he stashed the garbage in his vehicle, and he kept the neighborhood tidy. One morning, DeVos went out and told him, “You’re doing a great job. I came out to tell you that I really appreciate your dedication.” Devos said that the garbage man teared up and replied that in twelve years of hauling garbage, no one had ever said a kind word to him, including his boss.[1]

Who would have thought one kind word could have had such an impact? We live in a cruel world where people are more apt to criticize or complain than compliment. Encouragement is like oxygen for the human spirit and you might be carrying someone’s next breath. Maybe that’s why Mark Twain said, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.”

The other day I discovered that the biblical word for encouragement is parakalein, which comes from two Greek terms: para, meaning “alongside of” and kaleo, meaning “to call.” Encouragement carries the thought of someone coming along side of us when we are down and defeated and calling them to get back up again. If you study encouragement in the Bible, you’ll soon discover the theme runs from one end to the other.

The Angel of the Lord comforted Hagar in the wilderness (Gen. 21:17-19). Joshua’s spine was stiffened to be the leader of God’s people after Moses’ death (Josh. 1:7). When David’s popularity had plummeted, it is said that he “strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (1 Sam. 30:6). In the crucible of Gethsemane, Jesus was encouraged by an angel to proceed to the Cross (Luke 22:43). Paul’s missionary journeys would have been much more difficult were it not for the constant encouragement of Barnabas (Acts 11:22-26). Moreover, all believers are called to the ministry of encouragement, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thess. 5:11).

Encouragement is like a pebble thrown into a pond. While there is always an immediate impact, the ripples keep going indefinitely. Paul alluded to this in 1 Cor. 1:3-4, “God comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.” (MSG)

When you have been encouraged, your first impulse is to encourage someone else, because encouragement is infectious. The person you encourage will remember it and likewise pass it on to someone else. So, do you know of someone in need of financial encouragement? Send them a little gift. Maybe you know someone who is sick or grieving, why not call them now! Can you think of someone who does a thankless job? Seek them out and lift them up! Are you on social media? Then use it as a way to build people up with Scripture, prayers and positivity. 

John Maxwell says, “God’s love for us gives us the reason to encourage others. God’s love in us gives us the ability to encourage others and God’s love through us gives us the way to encourage others.”[2]  -DM

       

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[1] Rich DeVos, Hope from My Heart (Nashville, TN: J Countryman, 2000), 58-59.

[2] John Maxwell, Encouragement Changes Everything (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2008), 11.