Category: Encouragement

Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
‭‭John‬ ‭11:32‬

There are great blessings for those who patiently wait on the Lord. Wonderful things happen in His perfect timing and according to His will. Sometimes we just don’t understand why things are happening but we must remember that God is up to something big.

Lazarus had been dead 4 days when Jesus arrived to Bethany and He performed His last public miracle.  Mary and Martha came to Jesus and they were both an emotional wreck.  A messenger had been sent to tell Jesus to come quickly so He could heal their brother but He delayed and Lazarus died.  

As Mary and Martha were mourning the death of their brother, Jesus finally showed up. They were sad, angry and blaming Jesus for not healing their brother.  Little did they know something big was about to happen.  

Jesus walked over to the tomb and cried out with a loud voice for Lazarus to come forth and instantly he came walking out of the tomb. Everyone who witnessed this miracle was amazed and Mary and Martha rejoiced.

Jesus is never too late. He is always right on time. He knows what is happening in your life but the timing is all part of His master plan.  Sometimes we rush the things of the Lord.  We think we know what is best and we don’t wait for the Lord to do His wondrous work. This is when we mess up and take matters into our own hands.  

Abraham made a similar mistake with Sarah’s servant, Hagar, and forced the birth of a son (Ishmael) before having Isaac ?  It caused many years of serious havoc.

Always wait upon the Lord because He is going to show up at the perfect moment and will always prove Himself to be true through His blessings.

Pray

Lord, give me a spiritual mindset to understand Your master plan. Help me to patiently wait for all things to come together in perfect timing.

“We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—”
‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭4:8-9‬

We have a promise from Jesus that we are overcomers. We can overcome any stressful situation we face. We can overcome any negative circumstance we are dealing with. We can overcome because we have God on our side.

It doesn’t take long after experiencing a hardship that you start to feel overwhelmed. In today’s verses, Paul gives us hope for a new joy. He says you will have times when you feel like giving up because you feel stressed to the max. But don’t give up.

It seems like everyday we hear of people getting bad news. Bad news that someone is sick. Bad news that someone we know has suddenly passed away. Bad news that someone has just divorced. Bad news that someone just lost a good job.

How can someone see that brighter days are ahead? It’s tough now but there is coming a day that joy will be restored.

We have faith in God that we belong to Him and we are in His hand. He knows what we are facing and He cares. Paul’s words of encouragement to us prove that we may be crushed or persecuted be there will be a brighter day ahead. There will soon be a day that we can have our joy restored.

The most effective way to have your joy restored is to have a positive outlook on life. Thinking positive gives us hope. But when tough circumstances arise it’s hard to be positive all the time. This is when we should consider what we are doing for the Lord.

Are we glorifying Him in all that we do? Are we searching the scriptures for hope and encouragement? The Bible promises that when we seek after God, He will be found and He will pour out His love.

Another way to be encouraged is to do something out of the ordinary that displays the love of Jesus. Helping someone else always brings joy. When we are doing the work of Christ, it satisfies our soul and lifts our spirits.

Pray

Lord, You promise in Your word that you will lift me up and encourage me. Today I pray that you encourage me and allow me to express love to someone else.