A little boy heard his Sunday school teacher over and over say, “Jesus put us on the earth for others.”  After hearing this week after week, the little boy finally raised his hand and asked, “What are the others here for?” Over the last several months, it would have been easy at times to throw in the towel if it were not for the encouragement that I received from others.  Between ministry issues that needed much attention, changes in our family dynamics with our first born leaving home, and our other two sons changing schools, my wife and I were and still are experiencing some things that are different than other challenges we have faced in the past.  One of the things that helped us through this is to recognize that it was not the end of the world to admit that we were going through a period of discouragement.  I was influenced in circles where no one talked about discouragement very much and the pastors I know certainly did not let it be known that they were battling discouragement, especially to anyone in the church.  My wife and I were introduced to a book entitled TrueFaced: Trusting God and Others with Who You Really Are.  We were reminded in this book that we did not need to allow ourselves to be caught up in the performance trap that so many Christian leaders and laymen get entrapped.  In other words, pleasing God begins with being authentic and open before Him, no matter what our life situation at the moment may be.  Our life situation…Discouragement!
I certainly knew that God would encourage us through His word and prayer and by no means did I take that lightly.  We had gone through some situations where standing for the truth had cause some to hold us at arms distance and it was painful and lonely.  It was interesting that the issues at hand were issues that the church had held a high standard down through the years without much fanfare.  Times are changing and with the ever-increasing influence of the relative truth movement, things that once were absolute are now being questioned, even by those who are believers.  However, God had placed people in our lives that believed in us and believed that the decisions that needed to be made where in the best interest of our ministry.  We received cards, letters, e-mails, and even voice-mails that were nothing other than God’s good people allowing themselves to be used to encourage me and my family.  For a long time now, I have kept cards of encouragement that people send me in a shoe box under my desk.  When times of discouragement arise, and they do, I take those cards and read some of them and allow the words of “others” to encourage me.  I know we cannot always be an open book, but we must be real and authentic.  God’s call on our lives does not exempt us from discouragement.  What an encouragement the people you encourage on a regular basis can be to you in your times of discouragement can be if you will just allow yourself the freedom of authenticity.