Brothers and sisters, Jesus is with us! He wants to encourage us. He wants us to look differently at those with a broken spirit. Sometimes it seems to us that they disturb us: they are such difficult people, constantly grumbling, unhappy and complaining all the time. Brothers and sisters, let us share with them what Christ has done in our lives.
If we don’t know what to say to grumblers, then we need to repent. If we ourselves are constantly waiting for encouragement, then something is wrong with us, maybe we are doing something out of inertia but we are broken in spirit. In this state, you can reach the edge of the abyss.
Someone will argue, “Yes, but you don’t know my situation.” When I hear this, I think: “If I only had your problems.”
When I cannot explain my problems to people, the example of the Apostle Paul is a comfort to me. He writes “because we have such an office as it is given to us by mercy, we do not grumble.” (Russian translation)
How much was he paid for not to grumble? I wish we had a ministry like he had! Probably, no one ever humiliated or insulted him, people always told him only good things. But as we read on in this chapter, we see that he was in distressing situations, persecuted and oppressed, called a deceiver, beaten with stones and sticks. And Paul did not complain but called his ministry a mercy from God. What was his secret? Why didn’t anything deter him?
Because, as he writes: “… we do not look at the visible, we look at the invisible, because the visible is temporary, but the invisible is eternal”.
Satan wants to crush our spirit. He shows us everything from the negative side to make us despair. But we should know that it grieves the Lord if we succumb to despair and live as if He were dead, if we say we believe but look as if we do not believe. People should see the spirit of encouragement in us and turn to us for help when needed.
Maybe you feel really bad and want to run away. You may want to change circumstances because you are surrounded by very difficult people from whom you have not heard warm words for a long time. Perhaps you have even decided to give up your ministry. Perhaps you are like a broken vessel… In all these cases we look to the Author and Finisher of our Faith. The author of one of the hymns says: “When everything around me collapses, in Him I find support.” The Bible says that if we look to Him, we will not be exhausted and weary, we will receive encouragement and new strength.
Let us cling to Jesus. And instead of crying and complaining about your difficult life, let us repent of your despair that we have grieved the Lord with such a condition. Ask Jesus for strength to go to the same people who are in the same circumstances. Ask for help so you can continue ministry. Be encouraged and take action!
Excerpt from pastor Frans Tiessen’s sermon “Be encouraged and take action!”
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