Romans 12:8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
Last night I was speaking with a friend, and I said if I had to tell someone the reason God sent me to earth, based on Spiritual Giftings through the power of the Holy Spirit, it would be that I was sent to encourage people. It is something from about age 16 that was pointed out by those closest to me. This morning at church, my pastor read from the book of Acts, chapters 3 and 4, and how all that the Apostles were about to do was through the power of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 3, Peter and John encounter a man who had been lame from birth sitting at the temple gate called Beautiful. Peter tells him, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee,” and through the name of Jesus Christ, the man is healed. This miracle was not done through human ability, but through the power and authority of the Holy Spirit working through the apostles. This past week I was experiencing what is common when grieving: a lack of faith to believe that things would get better, that this feeling, this heaviness that was lingering, would stay. But that is when God spoke to me through Romans 5:5, which reminds us that hope is never far when we rely on the power of the Holy Spirit.
To the one who is experiencing one of the five stages of grief and feels like all hope is lost, I want to encourage you to rest and let God do the work for you. And to the one who is there wondering how they can support someone who’s going through a rough time right now, facing challenges and not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, I would encourage you to send encouraging messages and sometimes even music to help lift and restore their soul. Practice hospitality, reach out to them, invite them out, or even just drop off a warm meal. But most importantly, leave room and never stop extending your heart of compassion, because it’s the heart of compassion that our Lord Jesus Christ had that enabled Him to reach those who needed healing.
I pray that this word encourages you deeply as your continue this road of Healing in Jesus name.
Love, The Carpenters mother
