The other day I was discouraged. Who hasn't been at some time or another?
I needed encouragement.
Thankfully the Lord sent someone with the right words and the knowledge that I needed to move beyond where I was stuck.
Perhaps you or someone you know has felt this way.
To encourage means to inspire with courage, spirit or confidence. It also means to stimulate by assistance and approval, or to promote, advance or foster.
Thankfully, we all have the ability to encourage others. We also have the ability to discourage others. Something easy to do these days. We're constantly bombarded with news that looks pretty bleak. It's easy to talk about, and focus on, the negative.
How do we stay encouraged when the reality of our world is less than encouraging?
I remember when my oldest daughter, who was seven or eight at the time, was learning to ride her bike. She was struggling to keep the bike balanced but kept toppling over, again and again. Giving up seemed an easier choice.
In her mind she would never figure out how to ride a bike.
I knew she could. I'd felt the same way she did when I was her age, but I'd learned how to ride my bike on a gravel road - backwards - uphill - in the snow! Oh, sorry, that's my parent's story.
The gravel road is my story, though.
It wasn't easy, but I didn't quit, even after continually falling over, scraping my knees and elbows. I kept at it. Kept practicing until I was eventually good enough to ride with no hands. I still enjoy riding a bike, but now I keep my hands on the bars!
Encouraging my daughter that she could learn to ride her bike was easy. I'd been there and done that. I could empathize with her and give her the courage she needed.
That's why I appreciate the story of the Reverend George Muller (pronounced Mueller). It's a story that encourages me to trust God, even when situations and circumstances don't look good. Even in the face of a personal struggle, challenge or world pandemic.
Back in the 1830's a cholera epidemic had devastated the city of Bristol, England. No one was sure of how it was being transmitted, but the poor were the hardest hit.
It created fear, economic uncertainty and many orphans.
Children of all ages roamed the streets and were becoming a nuisance. Sleeping in back alleys, under bridges and in old warehouses. To feed themselves they stole from others. There were no foster homes, orphanages, or even schools for the poor, only workhouses. Imagine Oliver Twist.
George Muller saw the need and his heart was moved. There was also another need he saw.
The people in his own congregation needed to be encouraged to trust God during this time. Muller had visited a church member who worked sixteen-hour days at his trade. He was worn out, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Muller suggested that if the man also took time to read more of God's Word and His promises, meditate on the words and pray, he would find a renewed faith in God.
In other words, he would be encouraged or inspired with courage to trust God!
But the man was convinced that if he worked less, he would not have enough for his family. Reading God's Word and trusting in Him was something that seemed unrealistic to do at that time. Muller wanted to encourage him that that is exactly what he needed to do.
You see, George Muller had been where the man was, many times, but he'd learned the power of trusting in God and His promises. It wasn't easy. There were times when Muller and his wife wanted to give up, but the Lord challenged them to keep praying. To keep trusting.
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." Matt 7:7
As he waited, kept asking, seeking and knocking, the Lord provided.
George Muller wanted to encourage that man and others in his congregation that God could be trusted to meet their needs. As he prayed, it seemed that starting an orphan home was the best way to do it, for it would be unusual. It would be an orphan home relying solely on prayer.
As he and others prayed, the Lord moved on the hearts of believers and every need brought to the Lord was met.
"Not all believers are called upon to start orphan homes, while trusting the Lord for the means. Yet all believers are called upon in the simple confidence of faith to cast all their burdens upon him and trust the Lord for everything. To not only make everything a subject of prayer, but also to expect answers to their petitions." George Muller
George Muller was used by God to help provide a home, food, clothes, education and spiritual instruction to 10,000 orphans before he passed away at age ninety-three.
Think of the children and fellow believers who were encouraged in their faith and trust in God because of what Muller had learned and lived out. And, also, the many who've been encouraged by his story in the past two centuries.
Of course, my daughter learned to ride her bike, and has now encouraged and helped her sons to ride their bikes, something they were convinced they'd never be able to do.
Who can you encourage (inspire with courage) because you're further along in your abilities or journey of faith?
Deanna Storfie
Owner, Writer, Performer
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