Finding Encouragement Through Christ
From an outsider’s perspective, it may seem that an organization just magically works. People go without knowing who is really holding it together and what happens behind the scenes. If you visit Global Outreach, you will find a highly dedicated staff that works to serve our missionaries, but we are also blessed by volunteers that make so many aspects of our ministry possible. One of these volunteers, Chuck Harrison, has been a vital part of our office family and serves on the Missionary Advisory Council. Chuck loves communicating with missionaries and continues to pray for our staff, and everyone involved at Global Outreach. He has worked tirelessly to see that various mailings go out on time and that the home office building itself is working as it should.
That is until recently when Chuck was forced to take a step back from serving. Chuck is currently in the midst of 7 weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Although Chuck would rather be encouraging others, he has found encouragement through Christ for himself in this hard life season. The following is a message of encouragement he has found to remain true for him despite the odds. We hope that whatever struggle you may be going through, you will be encouraged through Christ as well.
Message from Chuck
At 7 AM last Sunday morning, I walked into my little study and picked up a copy of the Bible to read a portion of Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi. The first phrase of Chapter 2 says “So if there is any encouragement in Christ,…”, and I stopped to think about that. Of course there’s encouragement in Christ. But what I realized in that moment, a moment in which I was dreading the return to Birmingham, was that HIS encouragement is all I really have and all I really need.
So I’ve been thinking about where encouragement in Christ comes from, and what that looks like. Here are just a few examples we find in scripture of encouragement found only through Christ:
- John’s disciples saw it when they asked Jesus “Rabbi, where are you staying?” And He answered “Come and see”;
- The groom at the wedding in Cana saw it when Jesus performed a notable miracle, the first of many, and prevented an embarrassment at the wedding;
- The disciples in the boat on the Sea of Galilee saw it when they asked “Teacher, do you not care that we may perish in this storm?”;
- The demon-possessed man from Gadera saw it when Jesus restored his right mind and empowered him to evangelize the Decapolis;
- The thief on the cross saw it when Jesus opened Paradise itself to him;
- Mary Magdalene saw it when the risen Jesus spoke to her outside that empty tomb;
- The apostles saw it when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit into the Upper Room 10 days after He had ascended to Heaven;
- And Saul of Tarsus saw it, first when that same Risen Lord met him on the road outside Damascus, and multiple times after that.
Encouragement in Christ is really no more complicated than this—HIS PRESENCE. If you don’t perceive encouragement in Christ, if you don’t KNOW that He’s already there in your situation, it’s likely you don’t know HIM. My prayer for you is that you will seek Him, because if you draw near to Him, He promises to draw near to you and reveal Himself in all His love, grace, and glory.