Encourage Others
by Dan Jones, M.D.
Nehemiah 2:17-18
Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace." I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me.
They replied, "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work.
This scripture brings to mind one of my favorite Korean proverbs. It is roughly translated into English as “a good beginning is half done”. Beginnings can be tough, especially when our situation is difficult. Nehemiah faced the difficult situation of needing to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem against overwhelming odds. He had already confessed his sin, called on God for help through prayer, and enlisted support from the Babylonian king. Through these procedures, he found himself now in Jerusalem with materials at hand and a group of men assembled to do the work. But they were overwhelmed and discouraged by what they saw. So Nehemiah said encouraging words to his colleagues after which they responded “Let us start rebuilding”. A good beginning is half done! And indeed they did rebuild the wall and all the gates.
While working in Korea, God provided a vision to a few of us to use medical research to form new relationships in places where traditional missionaries could not work. Our first target area was a Korean-speaking group of people in Northeast China. This vision was first articulated by my good friend Charlie Sands. Here is the situation as I saw it when Charlie first raised the issue. Our group had no history of performing medical research; we had little in the way of training in research in our backgrounds; neither Charlie nor I had published any research findings in medical journals; our hospital did not have a clinical research program; Korea and China did not have diplomatic relations; we had no contacts in the area of China that was our anticipated area of work. It seemed to be beyond a difficult situation. Initially, it seemed an impossible dream.
But Charlie is a gifted encourager. He encouraged me and others to “get started” on a plan. And we did. As Nehemiah had done, we confessed our sins and our weaknesses in this area; we prayed to God for assistance; we called on others for help; and Charlie continued to provide encouragement.
Just a couple years after those humble beginnings, with several publications done by our group in respected international medical journals, we traveled to a medical center in Northeast China with a plan for a joint research project. As I read the medical journal article reporting that research now, I remember the encouragement from Charlie for us to begin down the road of a very difficult situation. I rejoice now in strong relations with professional colleagues there and in other parts of Asia that began with an encouraging word to fulfill a vision for God’s plan.
Lord, thank you for encouraging words from others when I need them. Help me be an encourager to others in difficult situations.
Dan Jones, M.D., MACP, FAHA, a board-certified Internist, a former medical missionary to Korea, professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Dean of the School of Medicine, and Chancellor of the University of Mississippi until 2015. Dr. Dan Jones is a member of CMDA.
Dr. Jones welcomes any comments or questions about what he has written and can be reached at - djones@umc.edu
Rounds with the Master, Spiritual Pearls from the Great Physician Devotionals are released every Monday and Thursday.
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