FAMILY and FRIENDS

A little encouragement is a wonderful thing. 

The size of the situations we deal with is irrelevant; anything that happens to us is important in our own eyes, however minor it may seem to the rest of the world. Whether it's something as simple as a bad day on the job or as weighty as a frightening diagnosis from a doctor, the support of the people around us has a huge impact on the attitude with which we face the struggle.

My elbow surgery ranked among the minor maladies, yet the attention I received from the people around me was a huge blessing. Phone calls, text messages, flowers, visits, get-well gifts, cards in the mail, Facebook posts...it's no wonder I went around with a smile on my face while my arm was yet wrapped in a cast. I felt absolutely blessed that so many people cared.

Christians are not immune from trouble in this world; the Bible says in this life we will have tribulation. But Christ tells us that we can face it with fortitude because He dealt with the problem of our isolation on the Cross. More painful than the physical wounds He endured, perhaps, were the moments when God turned His head away because Jesus had covered Himself with the sin of the world. Jesus experienced the abandonment of God so that we would never have to. His death purchased the promise that God would never leave us or forsake us. We are not alone.

God has placed us in His family, surrounded us with a built-in support group of other believers whose job it is to love and care for us as together we make our way Home. He has filled His Word with examples of people who have gone before us, their stories detailed to encourage and inspire us. And He has given us the Holy Spirit to be our best friend, our Counselor, Healer, Comforter...the answer to our every need. We are not alone.

That's plenty to smile about, right there. :)

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us”

(Hebrews 12:1)