Wednesday, August 23, 2023
I have the highest
confidence in you, and I take great pride in you. You have greatly encouraged
me and made me happy despite all our troubles. (2 Corinthians 7: 4, New Living Translation)
This past Sunday morning was as
near perfect a Sunday morning that I can ever recall. I was the guest preacher
at Yorkminster Park Baptist Church. Everything came together during the
service. The sermon almost preached itself. The hymns were right on topic. The post-sermon
responses from the congregation were heart-warming. There have been positive emails
from those who watched the webcast. I wouldn’t change a thing, even if I could.
It was a five-star morning.
But the thing that made it a
five and half stars - the icing on the cake, the coup de grace, the cherry onn top -happened when the service was over and I was walking down
the centre aisle with Paula, our associate minister. There was my seven-year-old
grandson, Spencer, with his family, beaming his big smile and saying, “Grandpa!
Grandpa!” I barely had time to give him a clumsy high-five. His sister, Amelia,
was dancing alongside in the pew. I hadn’t seen them in the congregation until
that moment. But the joy in Spencer’s face, the excitement in his greeting, the
unconditional love in his twinkling eyes meant the world to me in that moment.
A great worship service and the love of a seven-year-old boy - my cup runneth
over!
It has been a heck of summer. Susan
has been diagnosed with a return of her cancer and is under treatment. We lost our
dog, Charlie. The basement has flooded and they are going to have to rip out
the carpet and strip down the walls. Move over, Job, and share your ash pit,
please.
But in the midst of all these “troubles,”
I found encouragement, blessing, joy, happiness in the smile of a little boy
and the warm reception of our church family. They are praying with us and for us. I
wish Susan could have been there for the ambience of it all wrapped around me
and embraced me. It was reassuring. It was supportive. It was encouraging. It made me happy, indeed.
“You have greatly encouraged me and made me happy despite
all our troubles.”
That is the power of family, be
it one’s own flesh and blood or be it my brothers and sisters in Christ. Words don’t
necessarily need to be spoken. It is the smile of a little boy. It is the
assuring handshake of a fellow believer.
What greater gift can we give
another person than when we offer encouragement, reassurances, love, laughter
and good cheer? We usually can’t fix the
problems or troubles, nor should we usually even try to fix things, but we can
show our caring, our tenderness, our compassion, our empathy by simple and meaningful
gestures of support and love.
“Is there any encouragement
from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in
the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly
happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and
working together with one mind and purpose.” (Philippians 2: 1 -2, NLT)
May God smile upon you!
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