Yesterday,
in my office,
I was having a bout with loneliness and discouragement.
Now,
before you judge me,
pastors are not impervious to these things. I mean, we’re people too.
Typically,
when I start feeling this way,
I’m usually wrestling with questions that many of us wrestle with. And by “us” I mean more than just those who serve in ministry.
I mean people in general.
Things like:
Am I making a difference? Because sometimes I don’t think I am.
What can I do differently? Because maybe “different” will shake things up.
Am I making a difference? (Honestly, this is the question I wrestle with more than any other, which is why I listed it twice.)
And then it happened,
because God knew what I was thinking,
what I was feeling,
and what I needed to hear.
Within a matter of minutes I received a text message that said, “You’re a blessing to me and to many others.”
And then an email came in that said, “I wanted you to know your voice doesn’t go unnoticed…He is using you in extraordinary ways outside the walls of your church.”
I lost it.
I became a slobbering, snot-nosed, teary-eyed, mess in my office; blown away by God’s love for me and how He speaks through others. (tweet this)
And all this happened because two people took the time to send a few words of encouragement.
Now,
before I go on,
I need to say that I’m not fishing for compliments.
No,
I’m trying to show and demonstrate the power of encouragement. Because, those simple, yet powerful, words sent to me, were exactly what I needed to hear at the exact time I needed to hear them.
And so today,
if God brings someone to mind,
maybe you can send them a few words of encouragement.
Because,
it may make all the difference in the world.
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)
Christians,
and more specifically,
me;
we’ve become proficient at complaining.
Okay,
maybe that’s a poor way to phrase it.
We’ve become experts at complaining.
And most often,
we complain about how dark the world is, how awful the world is, and how there’s no hope for the world.
But can I be honest?
I can?
Okay, I will.
We don’t have a darkness problem, we have a light problem. (tweet this)
We’ve become so consumed with pointing out what’s dark in the world,
in others,
and yes,
even in churches,
that we’ve neglected our light.
And that’s a major problem because if our light is neglected, then it’s brightness may start to diminish or be covered up completely.
Think about it.
The more we spread hate,
the more unloving we appear,
the more unloving we appear,
the more our influence is lost.
And our influence is tied directly to the brightness of our light.
So today,
let’s drop the agendas,
let’s stop the finger pointing,
and
let’s focus solely on our light so that hope may be seen once again.