The most important attitude that we can impart to someone who is
sick or troubled in life is simply, our own hope. Proverbs 18:14 says this
concerning someone who is sick or has a crushed spirit, “The human spirit can
endure a sick body, but who can bear it if the spirit is crushed? Romans 15:13
says this about hope, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace
in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”.
God’s Word teaches us that hope is something that we cannot see, but it’s
biblical foundation is reflected in our faith in God and not our circumstances.
Hope then is the antidote for despair. Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of
what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” It is our faith that
enables us to have hope. Acts of kindness is a another way to encourage someone
who may be sick or downhearted as in Acts 2:42, “ They spent their time in
learning from the apostles, taking part in the fellowship, and sharing in the
fellowship meals and the prayers”.
The early Christians are our role models.
Bringing someone in need a prepared meal, praying with them, reading the Bible
to them and sharing good conversation are all very encouraging. Another way to
encourage them is to remind them not to focus on the future of all the, “what
ifs” and “maybes”, but to stay focused on today, moment by moment seeking God
for their healing and the will of God to be revealed to them through their
situation. Matthew 6:33-34 tells us this, "But seek first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own
things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Jesus Himself, said
not to worry about the future! We are all terminal beings, no one lives forever
and everyone has trials and tribulations. Encourage them to focus on today,
doing the right things and making the best out of their current situation. God
designed each of us with a kind of survival instinct and wants us to have a
nature that is optimistic and hopeful. Those who have it enjoy a better quality
of life, do more good for others and often live longer. The book of Job teaches
many lessons, including what not to assume or say if we want to encourage
someone. Job's suffering was so devastating it is hard to imagine. Satan killed
all of Job's children and most of his servants and caused him to lose all his
possessions.
Later he was personally afflicted with a terrible disease that
caused painful boils all over his body. Of all Job's supposed friends, it
appears that only three and a fourth one later on in the story, cared enough to
visit Job and spend considerable time with him to "mourn with him, and to
comfort him" in Job 2:11. But Job understandably complained that they were
"miserable comforters" in 16:2 and said, "How long will you
torment my soul, and break me in pieces with words?" in 19:2. These three
friends seemingly had good intentions to give comfort and advice to Job, but
they had mistakenly assumed that Job's suffering was God's punishment for
disobeying His laws. They also assumed in their wrong theology, that God always
rewards good and punishes evil in this life, with no exceptions. They saw no
purpose for suffering other than retribution and punishment. So in spite of
their possible good intentions, Job's three friends primarily gave him added
mental and emotional distress. So I would conclude that we should be very
careful before we try and analyze someone’s illness. The Bible has much to say
about the power of words. It's sad that Job's friends were using their words to
discourage instead of encourage. After all, "The tongue of the wise
promotes health" Prov 12:18 and, "A wholesome tongue is a tree of
life" Prov. 15:4. May we all continue to grow in understanding about how
to be effective helpers and encouragers in this new year!
Hold Fast,
Bren
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