Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

When you stop to analyze the concept, "encourage" takes on new meaning. It's the act of inspiring others with renewed courage, spirit, or hope. When we encourage others we spur them on, we stimulate and affirm them. I do not care how influential or secure or mature a person may appear to be, genuine encouragement never fails to help.

Centuries ago a little boy found himself in the midst of a vast crowd of people—larger than any group he'd ever seen. He had come out of curiosity, having heard that a man named Jesus was nearby. Not knowing how far he would have to travel or how long he would be gone, the boy had packed a small lunch for himself.

Overwhelming odds can make cowards of us all. I remember the first time I felt overwhelmed regarding ministry in a vast arena. My life had been quiet and manageable. From my birthplace in a south Texas country town, I moved with my family to Houston, where we lived through my high school years.

We often find ourselves bogging down in our spiritual growth simply because the challenges before us look absolutely impossible. Such frustrations are not new. Jeremiah tells us: "Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You" (Jer. 32:17).

I remember the year NBA stars Michael Jordan and Earvin "Magic" Johnson were vying for the Most Valuable Player award. That year it was incredibly close, and the final tally resulted in Johnson's winning the award by the narrowest of margins.

Ever felt weird because you were "normal"? I remember the first time I had that feeling. I was a teenager surrounded by other teenagers in a testimony meeting. One girl, with tears running down her face, told of an alcoholic father who beat her mother almost every weekend.

"Rome wasn't built in a day." If I heard that once, I heard it a hundred times while I was growing up. I was young and impatient, anxious to reach the goals I felt were important. But there was always this irksome reminder that good things take time and great things take even longer.

From a distance we in the church often look like beautiful people. We're well-dressed. We have nice smiles. We look friendly. We appear cultured, under control . . . at peace. But what a different picture comes in view when someone gets up close and in touch!

Fresh-fallen snow blanketed the range of mountains on the northeast rim of the Los Angeles basin. When I caught my first glimpse of it in the distance, I found myself smiling and saying aloud, "Beautiful!" Seventy-five miles away, it was beautiful. Up close, well, that was an entirely different matter.

Let me give you three very practical thoughts regarding this matter of God's strength through stress, as found in Psalm 46. First, His strength is immediately available. Our trials are not superficial or irrelevant. They are vehicles of grace that God uses to bring us growth.

Who would've ever guessed it? Out of the blue came this nobody. He had spent his youth working for his dad in the quiet, rugged outdoors. Now, suddenly, he was the most famous man in the country. But he couldn't wait to retreat to the hills where life was simple and uncluttered.

Having just held a memorial service for a friend several years younger than I who had died with liver cancer, I have been thinking about how to respond when struck by an arrow of affliction. Not a little irritating dart, but an arrow plunged deeply. My friend chose not to curl up in a corner with a calendar and put Xs on days.

Flying ace Chuck Yeager has written a book with an inviting title: Press On! A guy with his adventurous background, plus a chest full of medals to prove it, probably has a lot to say about "pressing on." Few will ever know the thrill of breaking sound barriers, but all of us live with the daily challenge of pressing on.

Grace frees us to fly. So, fly! Dare I give a few illustrations? Aw, why not? You've had your eye on that sailboat or catamaran or sports car for some time. Why not? You've thought a lot about a cruise or a trip to Europe but never permitted yourself to do more than think. Why not?

The Book of Job drips with mystery. The sobs of the man and the silence of his God form a strange combination. From the start, there are surprises and anomalies. Job is portrayed for us as "blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil" (1:1) . . . and yet the bottom drops out of his world.

Victory is not a once-for-all, automatic inheritance. Christians need to be reminded that the life God provides—the abundant life—is not a continuous, unbroken chain of victories. Victory is available, but not automatic. The strength we need is there to be claimed.

Whoever is soft on depravity should see Schindler's List. It's not for the fainthearted, I warn you. It is a raw, harsh, shocking exposé of unbridled prejudice, the kind of anti-Semitic prejudice spawned in hellish hate among the Nazis prior to and during World War II. Many of the scenes are absolutely chilling.

I don't know anyone who would build a summer home at the base of Mount Vesuvius, and it would be tough trying to get campers to pitch their tents where Big Foot had been spotted. No family I know is interested in vacationing in a houseboat up the Suez Canal. And yet there are Christians running loose today who flirt with risks far greater than these.

Sometimes fundamentalists can be the ugly ducklings of Christendom. We sometimes clothe the infinite riches of Christ in unattractive rags! As a result, the treasure of Truth is tainted and cheapened by the way it is presented to the public. Pick most any town and drive to the church which announces that it preaches Christ and embraces the fundamentals of the faith.

If a modern Rip Van Winkle were to awaken from twenty years' slumber and stumble into today's world, I suspect he'd be amazed. Some of the changes, even in worship, would make the old gentleman wonder about us. Picture him sitting on a pew, connecting with God in worship. Then to his amazement, he hears folks clapping!