As I mentioned last week, I have been reading my daddy’s book on the book of Nehemiah. He has such interesting notes in the margins. Some of the time I know to what he is referring, and sometimes not. This week we were studying Nehemiah 4. For those who don’t know the story, here is a short synopsis.
Nehemiah has been cupbearer to the King while in slavery. He gets word that the walls around his home city of Jerusalem are all crumbling and falling down. The city is not protected. He feels God’s call on his life to head to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall. The King grants his request. He rallies the people and the wall begins to be rebuilt. Outside the walls, stroll Sanballat and Tobiah, who are just ridiculous so called “leaders” of other governments. They begin to pester the people and Nehemiah daily. Making idle threats and actually trying to come up with a workable plan to keep the wall from being built. Constant harassment and constant bombardment of the peoples’ morale.
In Daddy’s book, he had written two names; Axis Sally and Tokyo Rose. Tokyo Rose I had heard of. Axis Sally was a new one on me. These were women that were used in WWII to try to demoralize the allied troops. The Americans, in particular. These ladies would get on the radio and broadcast music and commentary. The commentary had the potential to be pretty damaging. They would tell their listeners that the allies were losing ground and losing the war. They would talk about the likelihood that their wives were home being unfaithful to them. Just anything they could do to break down the morale and the fighting spirit of the troops. So sad. (Look those two up. There is so much more to the stories.)
In life, so many times we find people who do not want success for us. They do not like it when they see us achieving our goals. Like Sanballat and Tobiah, they fear our success. Why people want to be this way is a mystery to me. We ought to always be happy for each other’s successes!
We have to be people who run along beside each other cheering! At a track meet last year, I saw a kiddo running who was a special needs kid. But he loves sports. He loves everything about being a part of the team. He was coming in dead last in his event, but… But, I looked as he rounded the last turn. There were probably 20 members of the Cubs track team running right along with him and encouraging him and cheering him on! In his mind and in the minds of everyone who witnessed this, this kiddo did not lose at all. He was the big winner. The encouragement and support of his teammates meant the world to him. He will never be a track star or a stud athlete of any kind, but no one can ever take that day away from him. He had so much encouragement and support.
Wouldn’t you rather be in charge of encouragement, than trying to find fault with whatever anyone else is doing? Wouldn’t you rather step forward and lead than sit in the background and talk about how worthless someone else is?
It takes so little effort to offer encouragement. It is just a matter of choosing to be who God made you to be! Be an encourager to others. Be the one cheering when everyone else has left. Be the one who says, “You can do it!” when others doubt their ability.
Find a way to be an encourager this week. It will make a difference.
By: Gina Caswell Kelly
