Encouragement

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One summer when I was very young, I remember waking up early, in a cabin, in Canada. My Mom, Dad, and little brother and I were staying by Lake Winnipeg with my Mom’s family. Everyone was asleep, except for my Dad.

I found him with a cup of coffee, a pad and a pencil, sitting out on the steps of the cabin, sketching. The whole thing struck me as being wonderful. I don’t know what about that moment I loved the most, but it’s a fond memory. Early morning, the smell of coffee, the birds singing in the trees, the air, cool and crisp and there I was standing behind him, watching him draw. What I wanted most at that moment was to learn from my Dad.

You see my Dad has a way of teaching that would sometimes frustrate me, but now that I’m older, I got to tell you, that man can really teach. That morning at the lake he taught me how to draw.

He showed me what to do, then he let me try. Mistakes I made, never bothered him; they were a part of the learning process. He watched over me and tenderly corrected me when I needed it.

When I was going to school, I would ask my Dad questions about my homework, looking for a quick and easy answer. But the answer I always got was, “Let’s look that up in the encyclopedia.” Never the easy way out for him, or should I say, never the easy answer for me. He wanted to be sure that I understood and remembered what I needed to learn.

God has many ways of teaching and the Bible is our encyclopedia. God teaches us through His Holy Spirit. Jesus said, in John 14:25-26, “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name will teach you all things, and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” All the answers are there, but God doesn’t leave it up to us, to teach ourselves. He helps us to understand and remember. He allows us to make mistakes along the way so that we will become the kind of people that he would have us be.

Hebrews 4: 12 tells us another way He has helped us. “For the Word of God is living and active.” We don’t have a dead encyclopedia.

Last of all, God’s desire for us, just as my Dad’s is for me, is to be complete and not lacking in anything. 2 Peter 1: 5-8, “For this very reason make every effort to add to your Faith; goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge; perseverance; and to perseverance; godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

My Heavenly Father and my earthy Father, want the best for me. Both are there, helping, teaching and watching me grow through my mistakes so that I can live a life, complete and effective, lacking nothing.

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