I love the little red boxes of Sunmaid Natural California Raisins for two reasons:
1) On the side of the box that lists the ingredients, it says: “Just Grapes and Sunshine.” How awesome is that?!?! I love sunshine. Eating these raisins is enjoying edible sunshine. I just love sunshine. I mean, really, I do… It is a good thing God sent me South for grad school.
2) Unbeknownst to most people, when you open the top of the box, printed right inside the flap, there is a sage little saying… almost like a fortune cookie, but better, since it is a box of sunshine.
Today, my little box of grapes and sunshine read “Take time to encourage a friend today.” Sweet. I love encouraging friends. And it just so happened that today I was blessed with the opportunity to encourage and be encouraged by several of my dearest friends. (Ah, I sure do love and miss my brothers and sisters in Christ in Kansas.) Anyway, this all reminded me of a scripture passage, that just so happens to be a favorite of one such dear Kansas friend:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God. For as Christ’s sufferings overflow to us, so through Christ does our encouragement also overflow. If we are afflicted, it is for your encouragement and salvation; if we are encouraged, it is for your encouragement, which enables you to endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is firm, for we know that as you share in the sufferings, you also share in the encouragement.”
~2 Corinthians 1:3-7
Alas, I must confess, the first time I came across the passage in Liturgy of the Hours (Week 1, Evening Prayer II), I thought, ‘Uhhh… Who encourages who in affliction encourages afflicted encouragers what?’ So then I re-read the passage, with a little more care, and the idea being conveyed began to come into focus… and I realized… this really is simple, and it is totally applicable in our world today: The hard times you go through in life can be used to help others.
Ladies and gents, “nothing is new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Which means, whatever you are going through right now – good, bad, or ugly – someone, somewhere has gone through the same situation before. God took good care of the last guy that went through the situation, and He happens to be totally capable of taking care of you as well. Furthermore, when God gets you over whatever hurdle you are facing, you, in turn, can help encourage the next guy that approaches that hurdle. Welcome to the body of Christ. This is what we do for one another.
So next time you are faced with a challenge in life, instead of rolling your eyes at God, or throwing your hands up and yelling ‘Why me Lord?’ – Consider this: it may be that you “are afflicted” for the “encouragement and salvation” of those who are running the race along with you. And by the same turn, there are those facing afflictions so that they might encourage you someday.
For those of you thinking… “But Sara, no one I know has ever faced the challenge I am facing…” I reply, “Dear sir or madam, You should seriously consider investing time in learning about the lives of the Saints.”
Seriously though, this is the beauty of the mystical body of Christ. Not only are we united with other Christians throughout the world, but we are also united to those who have already run the race, and are now in heaven eating fried chicken with Moses. We are united to them in Christ, for He is the vine, and we are the branches. The saints in heaven are fully united to Christ, as we here on earth are striving to be. The saints once faced the same afflictions that we face today, and they are in heaven, beholding the face of God, interceding for us. They understand exactly what we are going through – they too, once grappled with this crazy thing we call life. So don’t forget to look to the Saints – to be encouraged by their lives, to ask for their prayers, to be reminded that we are never, ever alone on our journey through life.
Brothers and sisters, never forget that we are children of the “Father of compassion and God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction.” What a gift.
So, don’t keep the gift of affliction and encouragement to yourself. Grab a box of grapes and sunshine, and “Take time to encourage a friend today.”
Blessed be God in His angels and in His Saints. Amen.
