“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
Christians are constantly admonished to “edify one another.” Edify simply means “to build up, to give strength.” We have people in the church, mainly ladies that send cards for different things. Birthdays, anniversaries, sympathies, encouragements, or ‘just because’ are types of cards that are mailed daily. Just this week a lady told me that her family had a stack of cards that people from the church had sent to her and her family during an extremely difficult time. Often, I hear stories like hers and it is a blessing to my soul knowing people are trying to “edify” their brothers and sisters in the Lord.
But, what about those of us that do not receive a card or encouragement regularly? What are we to do? Right away, we must fight the hurt. Others may not know the extent of your situation. The devil will sit on your shoulder and whisper lies in your ear telling you no one cares. It could be that others don’t know because they too are traveling through deep waters, barely keeping their noses above the water line. How do I know the Devil lies to us? He has done so in my life often. It is also possible that other Christians know of our hurt, but they are too busy with life to reach out and focus on others. It is sad but a true reality. We all get tunnel vision from time to time. How do we respond to those people and ourselves? We pray. None of us are what we should be.
But, what if we never receive a card? Look back at our opening verse. Jesus promised us “peace” even while in “tribulation” or suffering. Isn’t this promise better than any card we get from the mailbox? Why not look at the promises of God as cards from the Lord. Peace isn’t the absence of trouble but a trusting tranquility of order in the midst of our trouble. The scripture tells us that David encouraged himself in the Lord. We frail and failing Christians don’t always live up to the standard we should. We often miss the mark but our wonderful Lord never misses. We should all seek to do better but the Lord never needs to do better. So, let’s open our hearts to the precious words of God found in our Bibles and receive those beautiful cards of encouragement which are a sweet balm for the soul.