Encourage the Weary

SATISFYING had my day been, when, as I boarded the train to go home, I noticed a mid-40s woman sit down in front of me (I stood only a few metres away [I sit so much elsewhere, I find it’s nice to stand on public transport.]). Suddenly she dove into her handbag and retrieved her phone. Frantically, she dialled a number and waited. She had left something on at her workplace and it needed to be turned off. When she finished her call, she was visibly drained, and indeed, a moment of despair appeared to be her realisation.

I prayed for her.

Then I felt God’s Spirit goad me to tell the woman, so, without any thought I dove into my pocket and retrieved my wallet and a business card from within it. On the back of the card I wrote:

“You look tired and stressed. I just prayed for you. I hope you have a terrific weekend.”

When I noticed it was getting close to her stop, I reached out and gave her the card. She simply said, “Thank you.” I had to fight off being embarrassed, and to simply offer a heartfelt smile. I continued praying for her as she hobbled away with her bags at each side.

***

I’ve known those moments of soul fright, where a thousand temptations of fear swarm, biting at the heels of whatever blessing there might be in life. And the plain truth is sometimes there is no sight of blessing. Sometimes there are just too many sharks circling to see any reality of joy that might otherwise be seen.

We need to encourage the weary.

Encourage the Weary – the Poem

Encourage the weary

If you have time

Encourage the weary

Don’t say, “They’ll be fine.”

Encourage the weary

Tell them you care

Encourage the weary

Now, come on, I dare!

Encourage the weary

You don’t know what it might mean

Encourage the weary

Love’s communicated when they are seen.

Encourage the weary

Give reason for hope

Encourage the weary

So they’ll have help to cope.

***

There are people everywhere, every day, who are weary enough to need and accept any encouragement we can give. In a slightly stronger place they wouldn’t need any help, but just now, in a moment of need, it’s a blessing to be there.

We may never know how much a gentle encouragement has meant to someone we reached out to. So we should always consider our efforts to encourage others are worthy investments. Doubting these things is not from God.

© 2013 S. J. Wickham.

Note: the business card in the photo is a mock-up of what the real one looked like.