“Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.”
Do you ever find yourself sitting with a friend over a cup of coffee, listening to his/her troubles? Do you know someone that is discouraged or burdened? Or there may be someone who is grieving and you wish you knew what to say or do? I am sure we all do!
Anxiety that weighs us down
From time to time, we all struggle with anxiety. The fears and worries that give us heavy hearts when things are not going as we hope. When we feel disappointed with what is happening in the world. When we are mentally and emotionally exhausted because everything isn’t going as planned. When we have long time prayers that are still unanswered. Even Solomon considered anxiety an inward cause of depression. And we wish that someone would be there to encourage and strengthen us. This is why God so often tells us to be anxious for nothing (Philippians 4:6) and pray about everything.
A Word of encouragement
Whenever we feel anxious or a friend of ours is feeling troubled, let us remember that an anxious heart can be relieved by a simple kind word (v.25 or in NKJV version “good word”). We know that we are all experiencing burdens that weigh our hearts down. The good thing is — the Word that comes from the Lord can bring comfort, peace and assurance that can make a person regain hope and confidence. You and I can help our loved ones and friends whose hearts are troubled or burdened down by imparting kind words of comfort and strength that comes from the Word of God. There are many beautiful words of encouragement in the Bible that we can lean on.
Remembering His promises
Let us remember how we have been encouraged with His promises, how Jesus spoke simple good words in the Bible that make others glad. These kind words we should not keep to ourselves but share them to others with the goal of bringing inspiration and courage — making it known that things will be better to those who trust in Him.
No matter what we are dealing with, let us continue to be an encourager, supporting one another, and building each other up because we know that our simple words of encouragement can do enormous things to the one who receives it.
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Helen Jane Manalo
6/23/2021