The Power Of Encouragement

By William R. Cunningham
For Sunday May 20, 2007

INTRODUCTION

Encouragement goes a long way as we go through various challenges in our lives.  We typically feel better when someone says something like, “We’ll get through this and you’ll look back on it and laugh.”  It’s good to have someone there that will comfort you and help lift your spirits when you are going through challenges in your life.  It surely helps when people spawn a sense of hope in our lives when we have lost hope or find it hard to grasp.

Sometimes we may become so distressed that we begin to doubt God.  We don’t necessarily doubt if God exists, but we doubt that he will do something for us to get us through the situation.  However, I must admit that typically we want God to swoop down and take all of our problems away even though we know that things just don’t work that way.  It is good when there are people around you that will keep you optimistic and hopeful so that our faith would remain strong and that the situation would not tear us apart.
It is easy to say, “I trust God.”  However, not everyone has gotten to the point where they really know how to do that and they find that trusting God is much harder than they imagined.  This is not because of God’s trustworthiness in any way, but rather is due to the lack of confidence that was developed in regards to God’s working in our lives.  This is why Solomon’s statement to “acknowledge God in all our ways” is so important.  We need to be aware of God moving in our lives so that we would be able to look back on life’s experiences and realize how God helped us.

However, we already know from previous experiences that encouragement goes a very long way.  A spotter in weight training encourages the lifter to do one more rep and then one more.  He pushes his partner to do more than he probably would have done on his own.  We encourage people to study and do well or to win the race and that makes it that much easier for the person to perform at his or her peak.  We know the impact that the crowd has on ball players when they begin to shout and push their team on, which encourages the players to perform that much more.

Encouragement goes a long way in our lives.  We are encouraged to do the right thing when we’d rather sin.  We are encouraged to work hard when we’d rather give up.  We are given hope when things seem to be so bad that we think that we are alone.  Encouragement is therefore very important to us and helps us to get through trials and tribulations, hardships, and pains.  It also is very helpful in keeping us on the righteous path so that we would do the right things in our day-to-day lives.

This study will investigate encouragement from the Christian perspective.  Where does encouragement come from?  Who is responsible for encouraging whom?  What is God’s role in encouragement?  We are going to discuss these things in this study so that we would have a better understanding of our role in encouraging others and the necessity to be encouraged ourselves.

Definition

The word encouragement means:

1. To inspire with hope, courage, or confidence; hearten.
2. To give support to; foster: policies designed to encourage private investment.
3. To stimulate; spur: burning the field to encourage new plant growth.

One aspect of encouragement that we will look at more closely is the aspect of giving hope.  That is critical to us when we are going through a situation that is wearing us down.  We’ll talk more about that later.

Scripture Lesson

Matthew 26:36-40 (NKJV) -- {36} Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” {37} And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. {38} Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” {39} He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” {40} Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?

It was near the time that Jesus would be betrayed and then crucified on the cross.  He was nearing the time of his death and he asked his disciples to watch with him while he prayed.  Evidently his prayer was about an hour, which gave the inner disciples (Peter, James, and John) time to fall asleep.  This seemed to upset Jesus.

Jesus wanted his inner disciples to stay alert as he go and pray.  Jesus knew that his betrayer would soon come to implement the betrayal.  His disciples couldn’t stay awake.  Consider the same situation recorded by Luke.

Luke 22:41-44 (NKJV) -- {41} And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, {42} saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” {43} Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. {44} And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Notice that Luke writes that an angel came to strengthen Jesus while he prayed and being in agony, he prayed more earnestly.  We can see here that Jesus was very distressed at what was about to come.  I recall many years ago that I watched a show about people who were miraculously healed.  There was this one lady that had an illness or her son had an illness (I forget the details) and she prayed.  However, what I remember mostly about this is that she didn’t just go and say a prayer to God.  She locked herself in her house for several days if I remember correctly.  She prayed earnestly.

We see here that Jesus was in severe agony and distress and that his prayers corresponded to it.  He was strengthened by an angel and he continued to pray.  We can learn from that.  When we are distressed then we should pray according to our level of distress.  If you are very worried then you should pray very much.  That may bring encouragement not that it would necessarily bring an angel to strengthen you.  However, prayer is how we communicate with God so being in the presence of God through prayer surely will help.

Scripture Illustrations

Let’s look at various scriptures that deal with the concept of encouragement and determine what we can gain from the Bible on this topic.

Proverbs 12:25 (NKJV) -- {25} Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad.
We tend to become depressed when we are anxious or worried about something.  We tend to fall away from fellowship and just get down and out and alone.  However, when someone comes and speaks encouraging words to us then it lifts our spirits and makes our hearts glad.

Proverbs 25:11 (NKJV) -- {11} A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver.
How valuable are encouraging words.  Of course the words that we speak should be expedient else they could cause harm instead of good.  In any case, encouraging words (as well as kind words for example) are worth much to us when we are down or when we are trying to overcome a challenge.

Deuteronomy 1:38 (NKJV) -- {38} Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

Deuteronomy 3:28 (NKJV) -- {28} But command Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you will see.

This is very interesting because of two aspects presented here.  First we see that Joshua was to be encouraged, which implies that he would benefit from this encouragement since God told Moses to encourage him.  The second thing we note is that God told Moses to encourage Joshua.  What is so special about that?  Well, consider our utopia beliefs.  Why didn’t God just magically encourage him?  Why didn’t God put the effects of encouragement in Joshua’s heart such that he wouldn’t need to be encouraged by anyone accept by God?

This shows us that even though God is with us that we are indeed agents of his divine providence on our lives.  We are the vessels that God uses to interact with people.  God uses us to provide for the needs of others including emotionally and psychologically.  God uses us to encourage each other and not through magic or invading our personality with his will.  This is not to say that God doesn’t provide us with strength to get through, but the fact of the matter is that we all could benefit from encouragement from others.

1 Samuel 30:6 (NKJV) -- {6} Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

Now this is a very interesting situation because we find ourselves where David was from time to time.  David was distressed because the people wanted to kill him because of their sons and daughters that were taken captive by the Amalekites.  David and his army were previously with the Philistines preparing to battle with his ally Achish. David had a very good relationship with Achish whom he obtained refuge from after fleeing from Saul.  However, the other Philistine kings did not trust David and didn’t want him with them in battle because they feared that David would betray them.  Achish was forced to send David away.

Imagine how David felt after being sent away by Achish, his friend.  Evidently he did nothing to deserve being sent away and definitely wanted to fight with the Philistines.  Consider David’s statement.

1 Samuel 29:8 (NKJV) -- {8} So David said to Achish, “But what have I done? And to this day what have you found in your servant as long as I have been with you, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

Now David is facing his own men wanting to kill him because of what happened to their sons and daughters.  We said that encouragement can cause us to go beyond what we would probably go on our own; however where would David’s encouragement come from?  It came from himself.

Sometimes there may be no one available to encourage you and therefore we would have to encourage ourselves.
Acts 23:11 (NKJV) -- {11} But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.”

Now this is very interesting because God encouraged Paul, but not just to make him feel better so to speak.  We said that encouragement could cause a person to go beyond what he or she would normally do and this is a great illustration of that.  God encouraged Paul so that he would continue with his ministry elsewhere, namely in Rome.

We too can be encouraged to continue on the path when we’d rather stop.  Sometimes we could become so distressed because of what is happening to us that we would rather give up.  However, encouragement could come and help us to continue on regardless of the present situation and its affect on us.

Romans 1:12 (NKJV) -- {12} that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
It is interesting that the Greek word here is translated as “encouraged” in the NKJV and “comfort” in the KJV.  The Greek word here means to console jointly or to comfort together.  So we have the idea of comfort in regards to encouragement.

1 Corinthians 14:31 (NKJV) -- {31} For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged.
Colossians 2:2 (NKJV) -- {2} that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,

1 Thessalonians 3:2 (NKJV) -- {2} and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith,

Here we have the Greek word “parakaleo,” which means to call near, that is, invite, invoke

Philippians 2:19 (NKJV) -- {19} But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state.

Here the word encouraged is translated from the Greek word “eupsucheo” and it means to be in good spirits or to feel encouraged.

Types of Encouragement

There are at least two type of encouragement that I’d like to bring to your attention based on my experience.

1. Impersonal encouragement
2. Personal encouragement

Impersonal Encouragement
I remember sometime ago that something had happened to someone on my job.  I remember someone remarking, “I thoughts will be with you” and I remember wondering what that meant.  What good would it do if your thoughts are with me?  What affect does that have on me?  I would say nothing.  In the heat of battle (my depression) I doubt very much if the knowledge of you thinking of me would do me any good whatsoever.  I would rather that you called and talked to me, wrote a letter, sent an email, or something more personal than declaring that your thoughts are with me.

Sometimes people will say, “Everything will be alright” or “We’ll be praying for you.”  What in the world do those things mean and what affect do they have on my situation.  Now if you are really praying for me then well because prayer does affect situations.  However, I truly would rather a friend by my side encouraging me and just being there with me then an obscure prayer that I know nothing about.  I would rather someone watching with me then remembering from afar.

These are impersonal encouragement.  They are mere words that are part of a social protocol when someone else is going through something that we are aware of.  It is called encouragement because encouraging words are typically spoken.  However, the encouragement is impersonal because no personal contact is made between the so called encourager and the one going through the pain.

Again, let me make it clear that we can truly say a lot of things and really mean it, but not be in a situation to physically be present with the person going through pain.  We can indeed intercede for them in prayer because prayers do effect change even if that change is just more strength and more hope.  However, the best form of encouragement in my opinion is personal and that means that we need to be personally involved with someone if we are going to truly encourage him or her.

Personal Encouragement

Imagine how you would feel if you were going through a distressing time and there was someone with you.  Imagine if you had someone that you could talk to and discuss your plight and even have a shoulder to cry on so to speak?  That would be far better than having someone speak mere words to you such as “I’ll be thinking of you.”

Personal encouragement involves interacting with a real person with real feelings and real hurts.  Now I admit that I am one of those people that are far removed from expressing or even understanding emotions.  I have a very difficult time understanding the affect that emotion has on us and dealing with those emotions.  I am typically at a loss when someone has suffered a real pain and there is nothing that can be done to change it.  What do you tell someone when their best friend was killed in a car accident?  What do you say to someone when their brother has been diagnosed with a terminal illness?

Of course the problem is partially derived from a sense of having to solve everything or to have an answer for everything.  It would be nice to believe that there is a magic prayer that we could pray that would make it all better.  It would be great if we found an obscure scripture and did what it says and all of a sudden her brother is healed.  These typically do not happen.

We get strength just from someone being there.  We get encouragement just in someone being by our side or interacting with us even if it is long distance.  I’d rather correspond with someone by email than to be alone.  I’d rather someone call me and just say I’m thinking about you and listen than to be home in the dark.  I’d rather have interaction than mere words any day.

We can encourage people by being personally involved in them.  This doesn’t mean that we are trying to solve the problem or give an answer.  We just want to be there for them.  If they want to talk then let them talk and you listen.  I recall a man telling me about a situation he was in where his whole life fell apart.  He was alone literally.  One day a friend came and just sat in the room with him and said nothing.  He just sat there.  That made a big difference and helped because he wasn’t alone.

Sometimes we don’t know what to say, but at least we can be there.  If you are there in spirit then still interact with the person to let him or her know.  Call or send an email.  Write a letter and mail it or whatever.  Just knowing that someone is with us in our situations makes all of the difference in the world

Sources of Encouragement

We learned from previous scriptures that encouragement can come from at least three sources.

1. God
2. Others
3. Yourself

God will encourage us through his word and through his faithfulness.  I find that it always helps to look back on my life and recall how God has always been with me and has never failed me.  A pastor said to me when I was laid off from my job that this is no reason to believe that it is the end.  I will never forget those words.

God encourages us through prayer as well.  Remember that prayer is a spiritual connection to God and we can just as well hear from him as he hears from us while we pray.  We can surely be encouraged in spirit while we pray to God.  Mind you that I’m not talking about a quick prayer before you eat or go to bed.  I’m talking about taking time with God as Jesus did in Gethsemane.

We are encouraged by others as I described previously.  People that stand with us, talk to us, and interact with us while we are going through hard times bring with them encouragement that brings life to us.  Others can surely encourage us and we should keep that in mind so that we are more active at encouraging others.

Sometimes we have to encourage ourselves.  Actually we should probably always do this.  Encouraging self should be the first level of encouragement.  However, sometimes we face situations where it depresses us so much that we don’t have the energy or the will to encourage ourselves and those are the times when the encouragement from others and from God is most important.

Hope

There appears to be a correlation between encouragement and hope.  Sometimes we may lose hope in something, but regain a degree of that hope when someone or something encourages us.  It might be an encouraging word from a friend or a bit of good news that sparks a degree of hope.  Without this encouragement we would find that we would probably lose hope on a lot of things.
I was reading an article in regards to counseling and it was stated that psychological therapy fails when encouragement is neglected.  Again we need to be encouraged else we would lose hope and therefore the will to continue.  People stay in bad situations because they have hope for a better day.  They are encouraged one way or another to keep going and not give up.  Encouragement basically keeps hope alive.

Imagine being told that you will get through this.  Imagine someone being by your side as you go through that situation.  Words are one thing, but relationship and friendship is another.  We never want to feel alone, but that tends to be the first thing that we do when we become discouraged, i.e., pull away from everyone.  However, when people encourage us and comfort us then we gain a sense of hope and that strengthens us to continue.  See the study on practical hope for more information at (www.pursuingthetruth.org/sermons/files/christianHope.htm).

Now the situation may still get worse and we may suffer even more.  However, I’d rather go through a situation in good spirits and with hope than miserable and alone with no hope.  I’d rather go down fighting than just lying there and letting life trample over me.  I’d rather actively trust God than to give up and miss his blessing and perhaps opportunity for escape.  Hope affords us God’s blessings and the opportunity for escape because hope has the affect of keeping us going when we’d rather give up.

Faith in God

I think that above all of the encouragement in the world that we truly need to have faith in God.  Faith in God means to totally depend on and trust him.  It means to have total confidence in him for you life regardless of what happens in a given situation.

Faith in God is developed however.  We just don’t wake up one day and have total faith in God.  I trust God because he has shown himself trustworthy through my own experiences with him and those of others including the bible.  I look back and recall how God has always been there for me.  That doesn’t mean that everything has always gone the way I wanted.  However, God got me through them all.

I remember being laid off and how people that I had never met and a friend that I hadn’t seen since I worked for the Navy stayed in contact with me through email.  They encouraged me beyond measure and even sent an offering to help me in my time of financial despair.  I tell you that I will never ever forget that.  That was truly the love of God operating in those people and the love of God being displayed for me to see.  I was blessed beyond measure by those people and I will never forget what they did.  It proved to be an encouragement for me and was a demonstration of God operating in my life.

So we need to first build a relationship with God because I’ll tell you that you don’t want to start getting close to God and praying and reading your bible when trouble comes.  That will only make you feel guilty and less likely to free accept the love of God.  So start now.  Begin to build your relationship with God through prayer and personal fellowship.  Read your bible daily and get involved with others to help and encourage them.  That builds faith because you get to see God in action.

Be convinced that God is with you even while you are going through hard times.  It would be a nice thing if God would just erase the problem (or so we think), however typically it doesn’t happen that way.  However, God remains faithful to us in all things.  So be convinced through personal experience and the testimonies of others (including those in the bible) that God is with you and will never leave you.

Conclusion

We need to be encouraged especially when we are going through hard times.  We should also be a source of encouragement to others for that very reason.  We can encourage ourselves and we can be encouraged by God and others.  The best form of encouragement is personal interaction.  Be there for someone.  Be actively involved in their life as they go through something.  Realize that if you are going through hard times that you’d rather have someone with you than to be alone so be there for someone else.
The fact that Jesus told us how to treat others by what we call the golden rule is more of a reason why we should encourage others.  Imagine how you would feel in that situation.  Imagine how you would love to have someone stand by your side even it was just to be there.  Encourage each other and be involved with each other instead of being impersonal.  We have technology now that allows us to be involved with people on the other side of the earth. Use those when necessary to interact and help people that you would otherwise not be able to interact with.  Encourage others as you are encouraged.  Amen.