We all need encouragement from people around us. There is so much negativity out there, and sometimes we just need people on our team, building us up.
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Have you ever felt like Satan was working overtime trying to discourage you? If I were being honest with you, we’ve been there these past few weeks. The devil has some incredibly effective ways of getting inside your thoughts and mind.
I personally think that one of his greatest tactics is to get you to feel as if you are all alone—no one understands what you are going through, or that no one truly cares about the ache in your heart. After a rough week, of several disappointments, that’s where I found myself—feeling as if it were time to throw in the towel, and head for home.
Then I got a text from my husband that bolstered my heart and got my feet set in the storm again—“WE are a team, you and I.” He continued by saying, “I’ve got your back, just like you’ve had mine.” I remember thinking that it strengthens my heart to know I have a teammate, someone who is there and does understand.
Often, God uses people to encourage us. I got a text from my dad this week that told me to remember the miracles God has worked on our behalf, where He showed up in big ways, and that Satan would be delighted to get us discouraged and away from the work of God. And then my mom texted me Joshua 1:9 from her Bible reading that says, “Be strong and of good courage.” And I just began praying for encouragement. I poured my heart out to God that He would wrap us up in edification from believers around us.
God immediately started delivering! For several days, we each received encouragement in various forms from godly influences in our lives. A phone call, a message on social media, a text here, a word of encouragement there—tokens for good in our lives from people who care for us here in our home away from home. Very quickly, I felt like a part of a team again, like a part of a network of believers.
It is usually God’s meticulous grace that catches me by surprise; a grace that extends to meet every need, in every little nook of our lives. God always works through people. While Satan uses people to discourage, God uses people to encourage. For us, God divinely appointed each conversation, each word in each text He orchestrated to minister to our hearts—He created a team of people He knew we would need to get through even a small season of discouragement.
Are you in a place of discouragement? For me, discouragement came in a different form than it did to my husband. We each get attacked in different ways. But be of good courage because God’s meticulous grace will bring the right person at the right time to be on your team, to partner with God to help lift you out of your place of defeat.
If you aren’t in a place of discouragement, would you let God use you to be an encouragement to another teammate in Christ. Words are powerful! They can destroy or build up. Team up with those God brings into your life so that when you need some edifying, you’ll have an enormous team on your side, ready to lift you up again. You never know what someone else is facing. Be a support system for those around you. Be a place of comfort and security to someone who might need you today.
I would love the opportunity to be a part of the team of people encouraging you. That’s the exact reason I started this blog—to help women and even to be encouraged myself. We are valued, appreciated, cared for, and we belong. If this is an encouragement to you, follow Anything But Ordinary Life.
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