Let All the People say Amen

Have you ever felt misunderstood?
Jesus knows how you feel.
And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” (Mark 3:21)

Have you ever been so overworked and busy you don’t have time to eat?
Jesus knows what that feels like:
And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. (Mark 6:31)

Have you ever been keen to follow Jesus, but you don’t know where he’s going?
Well, you’re not alone.
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” (John 14:5)

Have you ever felt like your life was on “Pause”? That you’re waiting on an answer that is taking a long time to come:
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. (John 11:5-6)

Why didn’t Jesus answer straight away?
Because God was going to be glorified differently from what Martha and Mary thought.
So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”  But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (John 11:3-4)

Have you ever felt like you’re being left ‘on the bench’, not selected for the team, because people don’t believe in you? I reckon Jesus knows what that feels like:
So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him. (John 7:3-5)

It’s pretty rough when even your family members don’t believe in you. The apostle Paul had a similar experience after he became a disciple of Jesus:
And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. (Acts 9:26)

Lets face it, sometimes our past precedes us, and we are judged wrongly by those who should know better. What you need is someone to encourage you. And that’s what Barnabas did for Paul.
But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. (Acts 9:27)

Ever wondered why someone else seems to be having an easier run of things?
Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” (John 21:20-21)

Comparison is the thief of joy. It makes no sense to compare ourselves with others. Jesus gives his disciples a simple instruction.

Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”

If you’re feeling discouraged, you’re not feeling anything Jesus hasn’t already felt. And what you need to be, on the days when your soul is downcast, and you’re disheartened - what you need to be on that day is to be encouraged. But if nobody will encourage you, then go and encourage somebody else.

Be a Barnabas.

Be encouraged today.

A song to lift your spirits (Let All the People say Amen)

——————————————-
Hey thanks for reading this far. I really appreciate it. God ever bless you.