Life sucks the courage out of us. Day by day, we’re disappointed, criticized, rejected, abandoned, postponed and distracted. Things we planned to finish remain unfinished. People don’t do what they say, or they do the opposite. Friends are invisible when we wish they were around. Other people show up with needs, and you have no choice but to take care of them. You plan to spend time with God but you don’t. You try to spend more time with your wife and kids but you don’t. Now, you’re afraid to ‘reload’ because you know you’ll fall short again. So you’re stuck in a rut. Paralyzed.

Most of the time, you can’t be the answer to your own prayers. If you could, you probably wouldn’t even think to pray . . . you’d just make a plan and do it. But you can be the answer to someone else’s prayers. Your wife, your son or daughter, one of your mentees, your dad, your best friend . . . someone important to you may be praying right now, saying, “Father God, I’m done. I’m out of courage. I need your strength to go on. The ‘headwinds’ of life are blowing in my face. I’m stuck and I need you to help me get going again.”

It’s hard to encourage yourself, but maybe not so hard to encourage someone else. To ‘encourage’ someone is to ‘pour courage into’ them. To ‘hearten.’ To offer support. To offer hope. It might not take much to get unstuck, but it’s awfully hard to do by yourself.

I’m challenging you to encourage one person every day this week. I’ll do it too. Get five note cards with envelopes and stamps and put them someplace you can’t avoid . . . someplace you’ll walk by every day this week (with your Bible, by your toothbrush, under your car keys, wherever). Each morning, ask God to bring to mind the name of someone He wants you to encourage. You may know instantly what they’re struggling with, or you may have to pray and ask God to show you. Either way, write a note of encouragement to that person and mail it that day! Let’s do this. Every day this week. 5 notes. 5 days. God led. Selfless. Full of love.

Will you join me in this ‘one-a-day’ exercise this week? Will you post a comment and share how God used you if and when He let’s you know?

1 Thessalonians 5:11a “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up . . .”