Be An Encourager

I had a rough day yesterday. I can't tell you why, exactly. But I was flirting with a dark cloud instead of what my proper response to the events of the day should have been. Flirting with. Not running from. Lord knows He's taught me how to deal with dark clouds by now. But I've told you before, just because I know what to do and encourage you in that way, doesn't mean that it always comes easily in my own life. Sometimes my flesh has been fed a morsel too much and then doesn't go down without a fight. Read Two Dogs In The Fight. So after a day of dark clouds and discouragement, I was feeling pretty spent. My CD player had broken. No music therapy for me. I didn't dare turned on the tv. I knew that all of the news would be about the shooting in Orlando. And that I wouldn't be able to get through three minutes of that without crying. Not what I need today, Lord. Please help me! I had been on Facebook a bit. I feature one of the blog posts there each day. I know that that's just a small arm of the blog, but I get more immediate feedback there and that helps me. But on this day, Facebook was not helping my funk. So much negativity and hatefulness. Not on my wall, but in general feed. Sometimes people think that their hatefulness and negativity is righteousness indignation, but it's not. But that's for another day. So that evening, with a heavy heart and still under that cloud, I posted a simple thought. Be kind. That's all it said. That's all I could muster. Just 'Be kind'. But then, as a comment below it: “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” ~Ephesians 4:32 And as I can count on, just as sure as night breaks into dawn, God had something for me. Something to encourage my heart. God's embrace to me. A dear friend, someone who I've never even met face to face, wrote underneath, Those words make me think of Daniel the prophet of The Most High God. He had an excellent spirit. I love that, and he went on: Stranger in a strange land! Learning a new language and a testimony of a servant of the Most High God. Wow! That was exactly what I needed! And it probably wouldn't have meant anything to anyone else. God gave him that thought. It seemed almost random. God had him write that. For ME! To encourage me. My response: 'Wow! That is the meaning of my name- Stranger in a Strange Land. And it's gotten so I can't understand a word of what they're saying. I'm all in to be a testimony of a servant of The Most High God. Just what I needed, my friend. Thank you!' We continued that conversation in private message. God used my friend to encourage me. And I woke up the next morning with sunshine in my heart and joy in my soul. Dark cloud gone. God used the encouraging words of a friend. Hebrews 10:25 tells us to be "exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." And that day is approaching. I want so much to be an encourager. And I am so very thankful for those God has put in my life to encourage me. Go encourage someone! :)