Scriptures
“May the Lord show special kindness to Onesiphorus and all his family because he often visited and encouraged me. He was never ashamed of me because I was in chains. When he came to Rome, he searched everywhere until he found me.” 2 Timothy 1:16-17 NLT
Application
When magazines or articles describe some successful people in our world, sometimes they call them self-made. Self-made millionaire, self-made person. The truth is that there is no one who is self-made. No one goes through life or becomes successful just because they made themselves or helped themselves. They would have an “encourager”, supporter or connector along the way.
Describing oneself as self-made is arrogant and belittles the contribution of others and most importantly the God factor. The focus of the verse above lends credence to this.
The anointed and very gifted Apostle Paul, a prolific church planter and encourager of people found himself in need of an encourager. This is the same Apostle Paul who wrote “Rejoice in the Lord always” in Phil 4:4. At this point in his life most of his trusted companions had left him. It’s possible that they were with him during the early days of his trials but deserted him when the situation wore them out.
When a bad situation gets worse and continues on that part long-term, many of our most trusted folks leave. Some would be ashamed of us. Many would attribute our misfortunes to us except very few folks. Many times it could be the folks we don’t expect that stand by us to encourage us.
We all need “encouragers”. There’s no “Superman” or “Wonder Woman,” apologies to super heroes loving folks like me. There’s no super Christian. We all need encouragers. God would allow situations in our life that would require the ministry of encouragers.
Guess what? Even our Lord Jesus in addition to the Father needed earthly encouragers during his time. "He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Matt 26:38.
May you be blessed with these special gifts from the Lord in Jesus name.
Prayer Points
- Lord, thank you for opening my eyes to this truth.
- Lord send me my encouragers and help me to acknowledge and appreciate them in Jesus name.
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