Apples of Gold

Who have you encouraged lately?  I mean really encouraged.  Can anyone look at you and say “they were a special blessing to me last week.”  Encouragement is more important than we often realize, and it is commonly simpler than we think.

A lady named Ida Goldsmith Morris wrote the following poem.  I don’t know anything about her, but she says it well.

It takes so little to make us sad;

Just a slighting word or a doubting sneer;

Just a scornful smile on some lips held dear;

And our footsteps lag, though the goal seemed near;

And we lose the courage and help we had...

So little it takes to make us sad.

It takes so little to make us glad;

Just a cheering claps of a friendly hand;

Just a word from one who can understand;

And we finish the task we long had planned;

And we lose the doubt and the fear we had...

So little it takes to make us glad.

Another writer of prose that is more familiar to us wrote words long ago that reaffirm this simple fact.  It doesn’t take much to encourage someone, but it accomplishes a great deal in their lives.  This writer’s name was Solomon and he said, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”  (Proverbs 25:11, ESV).

We may never realize the impact that we make on a person by simply speaking a word of encouragement to them.  When I was a sophomore in Bible College, I began a study of Greek.  It was a difficult thing to learn.  One day, after a particularly frustrating class, I showed up for a choral rehearsal, and from across the room, one of the other members of the group I sang with noticed my apparently downcast look.  She came over, sat next to me and said, “Is everything O.K?  You look down.”  I explained and she said that she just noticed that I was discouraged and wanted me to know she was praying for me.  Then she went back to her seat.  That was 31 years ago, and I still remember her kindness and the simple fact that she noticed.

It doesn’t have to be a large undertaking, or a big gift.  Just a kind word or an appropriate touch at the right time can speak volumes.  God may use you to lift up a heart that is downcast and wondering if anybody cares.

            Let’s practice handing out the “jewelry” of encouragement...apples of gold in settings of silver.
            What are some of the ways you have found most effective to encourage the people around you?  Maybe you'd be willing to share a story of how someone encouraged you?