July 8, 2008 IOW
“The Christian life is a pilgrimage. At times the road is difficult and we get lonely. Sometimes we may get discouraged and consider abandoning the journey. It is at such times that God will place a friend alongside us. One of God’s most precious gifts to us is friends who encourage us and lovingly challenge us to ‘keep going.’ “ By Henry T. Blackaby & Richard Blackaby from their devotional book, Experiencing God
When I read this quote from the Blackaby’s I think of Jesus suddenly appearing on the road to Emmaus. Out of nowhere Jesus appears beside the two who were walking along chatting about recent events. They didn’t recognize Him at first but after the fact realized who He was.
The road we travel, as Christians can be a difficult and lonely road as well as discouraging to the point we feel like giving up. Struggling daily to stay on track can be far from easy, especially in a world that tells us its okay to be off track with God’s Word simply because we’ve hit another century. Feeling out numbered in a large world, the sentiment of being all alone slips in and brings on a discouragement that can be hard to fight. Feeling as if we can’t make the journey, that we have failed along the way, that the fight isn’t worth it so why not quit.
Why not? Because truly we are not alone and there is no failure too big for God’s grace to not cover. To show that, God works hard at keeping us moving forward instead of backwards as He places alongside us people who sometimes appear out of nowhere when we need them the most. We may recognize the fact while at other times we don’t even realize it until afterwards a friend in disguised used to encourage us to keep on going.
In my journey as an adult God has posted many cheerleader friends along my path to keep me moving forward. Discouraging situation after disappointing situations seemed to like the path I was walking on to the point I was ready to step aside and give them the right away. Allowing them to have the road instead of trying to fight my way to the end. My reasoning was it wasn’t God that I was giving up on but myself, figuring I wasn’t able to do what it took to go on.
However, it was God I was giving up on. It showed in my thinking that “I” didn’t have what it took to go on. Well “Duh, Karen. “I” didn’t but God did.” Daily He shows that to all of us as He posts cheerleader after cheerleader friends along our paths whether we are paying attention or not to encourage us to keep our eyes on God not on the things that serve as great discouragements. The choice becomes ours to listen or ignore. Turn our backs on what God is trying to do for us or take notice and use it to go on. Paying close attention to those check points along life where those friends are waiting.
CLOSING THOUGHT: There are times when that friend seems to be hidden. They aren’t there where we think they need to be. We blame them for not being around to give us the encouragement we needed to do what was required of us to move on. We fail to see that sometimes the friend is inside of us in the form of the Holy Spirit giving us the strength and encouragement needed to go on. Something also found embedded in the pages of God’s word as scripture verses pop out of nowhere to refuel a tired and empty heart. The job of friend and encourager is never reserved for outside sources but can be found in ourselves as we do what it takes to be our own friend instead of our worse enemy. A worthwhile process that carries on to the point God is able to use us to stand at the checkpoints in other people’s lives to give them what is needed to go on. Be a cheerleader. Listen to God’s cheerleaders. They’re there for a reason.
“The Christian life is a pilgrimage. At times the road is difficult and we get lonely. Sometimes we may get discouraged and consider abandoning the journey. It is at such times that God will place a friend alongside us. One of God’s most precious gifts to us is friends who encourage us and lovingly challenge us to ‘keep going.’ “ By Henry T. Blackaby & Richard Blackaby from their devotional book, Experiencing God
When I read this quote from the Blackaby’s I think of Jesus suddenly appearing on the road to Emmaus. Out of nowhere Jesus appears beside the two who were walking along chatting about recent events. They didn’t recognize Him at first but after the fact realized who He was.
The road we travel, as Christians can be a difficult and lonely road as well as discouraging to the point we feel like giving up. Struggling daily to stay on track can be far from easy, especially in a world that tells us its okay to be off track with God’s Word simply because we’ve hit another century. Feeling out numbered in a large world, the sentiment of being all alone slips in and brings on a discouragement that can be hard to fight. Feeling as if we can’t make the journey, that we have failed along the way, that the fight isn’t worth it so why not quit.
Why not? Because truly we are not alone and there is no failure too big for God’s grace to not cover. To show that, God works hard at keeping us moving forward instead of backwards as He places alongside us people who sometimes appear out of nowhere when we need them the most. We may recognize the fact while at other times we don’t even realize it until afterwards a friend in disguised used to encourage us to keep on going.
In my journey as an adult God has posted many cheerleader friends along my path to keep me moving forward. Discouraging situation after disappointing situations seemed to like the path I was walking on to the point I was ready to step aside and give them the right away. Allowing them to have the road instead of trying to fight my way to the end. My reasoning was it wasn’t God that I was giving up on but myself, figuring I wasn’t able to do what it took to go on.
However, it was God I was giving up on. It showed in my thinking that “I” didn’t have what it took to go on. Well “Duh, Karen. “I” didn’t but God did.” Daily He shows that to all of us as He posts cheerleader after cheerleader friends along our paths whether we are paying attention or not to encourage us to keep our eyes on God not on the things that serve as great discouragements. The choice becomes ours to listen or ignore. Turn our backs on what God is trying to do for us or take notice and use it to go on. Paying close attention to those check points along life where those friends are waiting.
CLOSING THOUGHT: There are times when that friend seems to be hidden. They aren’t there where we think they need to be. We blame them for not being around to give us the encouragement we needed to do what was required of us to move on. We fail to see that sometimes the friend is inside of us in the form of the Holy Spirit giving us the strength and encouragement needed to go on. Something also found embedded in the pages of God’s word as scripture verses pop out of nowhere to refuel a tired and empty heart. The job of friend and encourager is never reserved for outside sources but can be found in ourselves as we do what it takes to be our own friend instead of our worse enemy. A worthwhile process that carries on to the point God is able to use us to stand at the checkpoints in other people’s lives to give them what is needed to go on. Be a cheerleader. Listen to God’s cheerleaders. They’re there for a reason.
Our host this week is Bonnie over at Ink It Blog. Wonder on over there and join the fun of sharing or reading about today’s quote.
5 comments:
Great Post, Karen. I like this:
"There are times when that friend seems to be hidden. They aren’t there where we think they need to be. We blame them for not being around to give us the encouragement we needed to do what was required of us to move on. We fail to see that sometimes the friend is inside of us in the form of the Holy Spirit giving us the strength and encouragement needed to go on."
Our relationships should point us and those around us to God, not be a replacement for Him. Thanks for sharing.
Blessings.
Hey Karen,
This was really, really good. You brought out some great points, especially when we feel alone and we go to the LORD and His WORD to find comfort.
Thanks for cheering me on today!!
Blessings♥
Awesome post, bless you.
Karen, I love being one of God's cheerleaders! And I love the encouragement I get from you - one of my cheerleaders. Bless you my FRiend. Thanks for sharing a great post today.
Bonnie
Those closing thoughts speak volumes! Thank you for sharing.
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