Monday Morning Encouragement -- Encourage Each Other

 

Source: Heartlight.org

"Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11

(Due to technology issues, today's devotional is a repost of a devotional from August 2023. Hope to be back with a new post next week!)

A little eighty-something lady stopped me in the aisle and asked if I knew where the creamed corn could be found. In fact, we were standing just a few feet from the shelf where it was stocked. When I showed her the spot she responded with embarrassment, "Oh, it's right there! I'm sorry." And then she went on to apologize for her hearing loss, which made communication difficult.

I smiled and told her it was okay, and not to worry, and that I have trouble finding items all the time. At that point her shoulders relaxed, and she brightened. "I have lost my hearing, but I can walk, and I can move and still get around."

"You still have your eyesight," I reminded her.

"Yes! And I love to read!"

"God preserved your eyesight, so that you can still read."

"Yes! He did!"

"God is good!"

"Yes, He is!"

Then she sobered and said, "I was just reading in Matthew this morning. Terrible days are coming."

(She was referring to Matthew 24 where Jesus foretold the coming of the last days of this world.)

"Yes. I was reading Revelation this morning."

Her eyes widened as I continued. "We must stand firm in our faith."

"Yes," she nodded. "And we must be consistent."

I asked her for her name.

"Ann Marie."

"Ann Marie, I'm Nancy. Do you come into the store often?"

"I come in all the time."

"I'm going to pray for you, and I'm going to thank God for bringing you into my life today. You have blessed me."

"And you have blessed me, too."

"Ann Marie, I hope we meet again. But if I don't see you again here, I know I'll see you there." I pointed to Heaven.

"Yes!"

We parted.

As I walked away I felt a lightness in my step. The end of my work day was near and I had been frustrated and tired when I first bumped into Ann Marie. However, now I felt elated and strengthened. 

Ann Marie and I had what a missionary friend of mine refers to as "a divine appointment". She and I needed each other, and our loving Heavenly Father had seen to it that we were there for one another, to encourage each other in Him.

Today's music video Take Shelter by Kristyn Getty and Skye Peterson is new to me. I discovered it on the very day I met Ann Marie last week. Although it's not directly about encouraging one another, it is about the love of God and how we may take shelter in Him when we are facing difficult times. And really, that's the greatest encouragement we can receive. This is truly a beautiful, beautiful song and I hope you will feel the peace I feel when I hear it.

I love you, I'm thinking of you, and I'm praying for you.