Proverbs 12:25 "An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up."
Sometimes God allows things to happen and take place in our life that the world would simply call a "lemon" of a deal. When these things happen, when the lemons are dealt, we are often left feeling disheartened. No, not necessarily depressed or even worried, just simply heavy hearted.
Think about Naomi. If you're not familiar with the story, take some time to go read the book of Ruth. From the world's perspective, Naomi was dealt some real lemons. Her husband had died. She had two sons, and they both passed away. Naomi was no longer even living in her homeland or near her relatives for support. All she had left was her two daughter-in-laws: Orpah and Ruth. These tragedies left Naomi disheartened to the point that she told Ruth to call her Mara, because "the Almighty has made my life very bitter." Her anxious heart was heavy. Can you blame Naomi, really?
Maybe you're in a similar situation. You feel like the Lord has thrown some lemons at you lately. Your heart is heavy. You're lonely. You're disheartened. You need someone to encourage you.
Back to the story, let's look at the impact Ruth's words likely had on Naomi, in relation to the verse to memorize for this week. Ruth 1:16-17 "But Ruth replied, 'Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you will go I will go, and where you will stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried'..."
Can you imagine how Naomi's spirits were lifted from the loving words Ruth offered? Naomi was perhaps at an all time low. She wasn't out there asking for handouts, in fact, she even gave her two daughters-in-law an 'out' to leave her. Although those lemons were still tough to swallow, I do believe Naomi was better able to swallow them because of the loving support of Ruth.
Let's look at the verse for the week. "An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up." Do you know someone like Naomi? Someone who is heavy hearted, with a lemon-filled life? Do you know someone falling away from church, maybe because of life's circumstances?
The question begs, "What are you going to do about it?" When is the last time you hand-wrote a note to encourage another person? Technology like email and facebook are amazing tools, but when is the last time you actually picked up the phone to call someone to lift their spirits over the phone? I know I've been the recipient of many kind words cheering me up lately. I also know that the Lord has been teaching me lately to be a more consistent encourager. It's so easy to get busy and just neglect to send a note...neglect to call. The truth is that I've found when I take the time to encourage someone else, I'm encouraged. It's funny how that works like that!
So who do you know that needs encouraged this week, and what are you going to do about it? Will you be like Ruth and encourage a heavy-heartened friend? Perhaps this comes a bit more naturally for women than men, but that's no excuse. Men and women alike, will you join me in making a goal to look outside your circle and encourage a new person each week? Let's each consider it our responsibility to not only memorize this verse but also to carry it out this week. Let's all cheer up someone with a kind word and help their lemons turn to lemonade.
---Beth Banfill
www.GodandMe2theMax.com