Supportive

There are many many ways we can offer support to one another and most of them are not complicated. 

Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. 

Proverbs 16:24

For some of us the first step to being supportive is to simply look up from the screens on our devices and just notice people around us and try to be aware of what is happening.

Our available presence and a listening ear are often the most precious support we can offer.  Finding a way to speak truth with kindness rather than thoughtless bluntness makes a huge difference as well. Who of us hasn’t benefited from someone encouraging us to give something a try or to try again when we’ve stumbled?

Don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

Hebrews 13:16

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends

John 15:13

I think back over my own life about people who offered financial and prayer support in early days of been a teenager going on summer mission trips.  I certainly didn’t have my world “all put together” but because others supported me I was able to make a contribution.  With time and experience I grew and little by little God was able to show me how to stand strong and how to pass that support along to others.

Even the work Partners in Hope does today is the result of many people who pray, who give, who distribute booklets in their circumstances.  You may not be known to one another but You are known to God for how supportive You are to what God is able to do in the lives of thousands of individuals each month.

Thank You God that when we pray for discernment in how to be supportive to someone, You give us the words to say and actions to take.

There are people we will encounter today that need us to be supportive.  Help us to take time to notice, to seek You about how to respond to what we see, and then to be generous with our time, our words, and our resources so others can flourish today. Amen

Well, I have great hopes that in many places some people will experience a better day because of each of us giving some attention today to being supportive.