Endless Encouragement

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had. – Romans 15:5

It doesn’t take much for me to shed a tear.  An act of kindness in a TV commercial, a child singing enthusiastically at the top of her lungs, or a beautiful orange and pink sunset will all start my eyes leaking.  When I recently confessed this to a room full of women, I was shocked by the near universal “me too” response.  

Just today, I had to hide my tears behind sunglasses at the tennis courts as I watched a father teaching his seven-year-old daughter how to play tennis.  Instead of starting her out holding a heavy, awkward racquet, he patiently set her up for success by tossing a rubber ball back and forth over the net.  The ball was quite heavy for the little girl, so her father encouraged her to go slow and take her time throwing it back to him.  He modeled how to turn her body, lift her back arm up, and follow through with her swing after releasing the ball.  Although the little girl struggled to link the moves together, her dad never once lost patience or stopped encouraging her.  He would frequently shout out “You’ve got this!  Great swing honey! That one was amazing!”

I watched the young girl’s body transform from clumsy into confident.  By the time they walked off the court, her smile beamed up at her dad.  She said, “You know how you’ve always wanted to tube down Boulder Creek?  I think I’m ready!”  He put his arm around her shoulder and said with a smile, “You sure are sweetie.”

In the midst of that beautiful father-daughter snap shot, I thanked God for all the joyful memories my daughters have with their dad.  I also thanked God for being my father in heaven who never stops encouraging His children.  God sets us up for success, lifts us up with His words, and cheers us on non-stop.

Your father may have been loving and encouraging and you miss him so much because he’s no longer on earth.  Or your father may have been absent, distant, or even cruel and you miss not having that fairy tale father-child relationship.  We may all have different fathers on earth, but thankfully we share the same father in heaven.  

God is our faithful father who loves us each and every day regardless of our successes or failures.  He will never stop encouraging you to become more confident in your identity as His child, adopted into His royal family.  You belong to the Kings of Kings.  He calls you His very own daughter or son.  

Today, step into your rightful inheritance and walk with confidence because you know whose you are.  Beam up at God and take on the next challenge, because you know there’s no end to His encouragement.

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