Encouragement’s Evil Twin

With every good thing, there is an opposite evil. It’s the basis of any good story. Even if happy endings are predictable and unsatisfying to you, it’s the conflict that makes the outcome worthwhile, may the story end happily or tragically.

As we live day to day, we are part of a story where good and evil are in constant conflict. Our lives are like a swinging pendulum. Christ is our fixed point, our point of suspension, and in an effort to be Christ-like we swing back and forth trying to reach a state of perfection, equilibrium. Christ provided a very clear example of how to live, we have record of it in the Bible, but it is a very hard model to follow. Even when we’re swinging toward something good, we can pass by it and go too far in the opposite direction. But, that is why Christ forgives us when we repent and why we are supposed to forgive one another. True equilibrium won’t be reached for a while yet.

We are supposed to encourage each other, Ephesians tells us that. But is it possible for the good intent to encourage to transform into something evil?

I think so, only because I’ve seen it in myself.

I love knowing that I’ve encouraged someone’s heart or brightened someone’s day, but there are times when I expect to make a bigger impact than what I’m capable of.

My friend Sara says it best in her recent blog, “My actions sometimes get in the way of the healing that comes in God’s perfect timing. He wants to be the one with us in the valleys…And in those moments where there is no one else to lean on, He leads us to new depths of intimacy with Him.” (Read more from Sara at http://sarashoup.theworldrace.org/)

My desire to be the “rock” people need takes away God’s role, and that is a trust issue–I’m not trusting God to do His work.

You may be familiar with the events leading up to Jesus’ death on the cross. I thought I was, but I noticed something new in Luke chapter 22. The night before Jesus was to be crucified, He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Lord, if it be your will let this cup pass from me.” He was a stone’s throw away from his disciples, and despite being in the presence of friends he was in agony. He didn’t need his friends, he needed God. Earnestly he prayed. And you know what happened? “And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.” (vs 43) God immediately delivered strength.

I know God uses us to bear each other’s burdens and encourage one another, but in our encouragement we should direct others toward the source of true peace, absolute love and incredible strength. An encouraging word will last as long as the breath you used to make it, but God’s power is never-ending.