My mother and father in law regularly eat at a certain dining establishment. You should see the faces light up when they show up. There’s a scramble over who gets to wait on them. When was the last time you had a waiter act like serving you made their day? Why does this happen? One word…. encouragement. When I’m with them in that setting, they introduce me to each server with a short glowing bio. Whoever it is just beams. Here is this well dressed good looking grandparent age couple. And all these college students and young adults want to hang out and talk. Some of them have commented, “Richard and Connie are like my grandparents.” Why? It’s obvious their caring words are making a big difference. Proverbs 15:23 tells us “Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time!” For me, this relates directly to worship team members. Each member has chosen to give up valuable time to be part of the team. I’m sure there are times when our worship team members wonder what I’m thinking. And… then there are other times when they are very clear about what I’m thinking. Being task oriented and dealing with a limited amount of rehearsal time, I generally get right to work and don’t spend a lot of time dealing with anything else but our preparations for Sunday. Encouragement does take place however, during phone conversations or various times before and after services, and other planned times. Encouragement is one of those very necessary and valuable ministries that often flies under the radar. How wonderful to speak the right thing at the right time. We need to be intentional with it’s use. There’s always a way to bring encouragement into someone’s life. King Saul was on an all out campaign to hunt down David and his men. Saul intended to exterminate David; however, God had other plans. In 1Samuel 23 Saul, with all the resources associated with his position, couldn’t find David. But Saul’s son Jonathan (David’s trusted friend) could. The bible says “Jonathan went to find David and encouraged him to stay strong in his faith in God. Don’t be afraid, Jonathan reassured him.” Most of us don’t encounter circumstances this difficult in our attempt to offer encouragement. And it’s interesting to notice, even though Jonathan couldn’t fix David’s difficulty, his words had a tremendous impact and were God ordained. Sometimes simply noticing and caring enough to speak the right thing at the right time brings a new sense of resolve into someone’s personal struggle. Thank God I have an opportunity to see that happen!
God is good,
Tim Covert
Tags: Christian Music, Devotional, Worship
