The Alpha of Encouragement

UV3008/10000 The Alpha of Encouragement

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
I Samuel 30 v 6

The patriarchs of faith like Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, King David and others faced extreme situations of discouragement. David was discouraged as the people wanted to stone him, blaming him for the abduction of their sons and daughters by the enemy of Israel. Even Moses faced discouragement when he cried out to the Lord that the people wanted to stone him. Suffice it to say that there are times of great discouragement in our lives when we cry out from the depth of our hearts to the depth of the Spirit of God. At these times, the Lord hears us and comforts or encourages us either with a word from Him or a miraculous turn around of our current situation.

We are called to rejoice in the Lord at all times. We entrust the alpha to omega of our situations or the totality of our distress in life to the Lord. Once we entrust it to Him, we are confident that there is nothing that he cannot do, nothing is beyond Him or too hard for Him to accomplish. We rejoice in the strength of the Lord. We have hope even in hopeless situations. When we are up against the wall, we can turn to our wall of salvation- Jesus even as Hezekiah did. He will make a way where there is no way, a river of joy in the desert of our sadness, a stream of hope in the bleak landscape of our despair. The word “ encouragement” literally means to be strengthened in our hearts. We are to strengthen our hearts in a time of discouragement with the strength or grace of the Lord for we find no strength in ourselves.

Even if immediate defeat stares us in the face, the Lord will grant us ultimate victory. We are therefore to rejoice at all times, in good times and bad times, in hard times and times of ease, in crisis and opportunity, in every season of our lives whether of sowing, ploughing, weeding or harvesting. When we thank, praise and worship the Lord at all times, our spirits rejoice for we are fulfilling the purpose of our life on earth. This is the manner in which we can encourage ourselves in the Lord. Once we are encouraged, we can become like Barnabas, the thirteenth apostle - an encourager, the one who finds the positive in others and in situations. We are to absorb strength like a living sponge from the Lord and His word and The Comforter –the Holy Spirit and then when people are squeezed or under pressure in any situation or crisis, release the strength of the Lord to them.