Sometimes We Just Need Encouragement

"encourage one another"
(1 Thessalonians 4:18)​

I understand that this is a discussion forum, and that the nature of such forums is that they focus on controversial material. If you've followed some of my other threads, you will see that I believe that discussion of controversial material can be useful. I myself do it. But sometimes we just need encouragement.

One way the Lord often encourages me is by speaking to me through nature, His creation. So here is the topic for this thread:

Please share how the Lord has encouraged you through nature. I'll go first with an example from my own life.

Our Lives are Like a Field Half in Shadows



On my morning walk, the Lord was speaking to my heart through His creation, as He often does.

The sun was rising as Sadie and I were on the way home. Part of one of the fields we pass through was lighted brightly by the morning sun while the other part was still in deep shadows cast by the woods.

And I thought, “Our lives are like this”. God is shining on our lives and making them bright and beautiful for His glory. Yet parts of our lives are still covered in shadows cast by the woods of pain, sickness, disappointment, and hardships.

A little later in the walk, I saw my own long shadow and thought of how some of the darkness in my life is created by my own sin.



But while it is true that our lives are still partly darkened by evil in the world and even evil in our own hearts, this was not the truth which stood out most clearly to me this morning. The truth which shone most brightly was that while the woods may seem deep and strong to us, they are puny compared to the mighty rising sun. Their shadows can only block the light for a little while. They cannot keep the sun from rising. And they cannot dim its mighty light.



So walk in God’s fields of grace. Don’t fear the shadows. They won’t last long. They are not as strong as they appear. For no force on earth below on in the heavens above can stop the rising of God’s Son.


And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."
(Lk. 1:76-79 NIV)

The photos in this post were taken during a recent walk in the fields east of Severn.

This is a lightly edited version of a post that originally appeared on my blog.

Now it's your turn . . .

 

They say great minds think alike, and apparently so do ours!

What I mean is that I have often printed out lists of the "one anothering" verses and discussed them in Bible studies.

We come to the Lord individually, but Christianity is certainly meant to be a group thing, a team effort, and a family affair.

And I'm glad to begin to get to know rlvaughn and the rest of you a little bit through this forum, and look forward to spending eternity with you!