Word Of Encouragement
by Dan Jones, M.D.
Acts 16:40
After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia's house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left.
Paul and Silas had been through a very difficult experience. They had only been in Philippi a few days when they encountered trouble. They had been sharing God’s love through word and healing. After curing a young girl of a demon possession, the owners of the slave girl were angry, as they had made money from her fortune telling. The authorities arrested Paul and Silas. For their faith, they were unjustly imprisoned. An earthquake had opened the gates of the prison and they were now free. They went directly to the home of their new friend and believer, Lydia. As Luke records in this verse, despite their own troubles, it was Paul and Silas who encouraged their fellow believers.
A word of encouragement can be such an important thing in someone’s life, but such a little thing to give. I am grateful for the encouragers in my life. One of the encouragers in my life was a coach. But this is not a sports story. All my sports stories end in junior high. This particular coach had the challenge of trying to develop my basketball skills for several seasons through my junior high years. He worked hard with me as he did with all his players. But as my teammates grew and became stronger and faster, I remained small and slow. I just was not very successful as a basketball player and felt I was a disappointment to my coach.
A year or so after my basketball career ended, an announcement was made that we would soon hold elections for class officers. The day of the announcement, that basketball coach stopped me in the hall to ask if I had seen the announcement and if I intended to run for president of my class. I responded with surprise that I had not considered running for any office, much less president. What he said next was a real encouragement to me at an important time in my life. He told me he saw lots of potential in me and thought I had what it took to be a good leader. And this was from someone who had seen me fail at something. What an encouragement that was to me. Now, years later I remember it as an important event in my life.
I saw that coach - teacher years after that conversation. He had no recollection of the conversation at all. To him, it was only a little thing. But God used that encouragement in an important way in my life. Without that encouraging word, I surely would not have run for that class office. And that position was the beginning of many more opportunities for leadership in my life.
Lord, help me be an encourager to others. Help me remember small words can make a difference in peoples’ lives.
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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