Cheer

In Proverbs 12, verses seem to go back and forth and show opposite direction;

     Wicked - prudent
     Truthful lips - lying tongues
     Foolish - wise

But, when I reached verse twenty-five it seemed to change it up a bit.  It doesn't really show opposites, it talks about a troubled person and how we can help.

    Proverbs 12:25
    An anxious heart weighs a man down but a kind word cheers him up.

Have you ever been anxious?  It seems to change my personality and at times my behavior.  If I'm struggling with the loss of a friend, financial difficulty or some other stressful situation, I have a much shorter fuse.  I focus on myself.  Other people and their issues become an irritant instead of a concern.

But, it doesn't seem like the inflection of this verse is actually referring to the anxious person.  The encouragement is for us to be kind.  Do we really have any idea what people are going through?  How do we normally see people?  Usually their best is the mask they give us to see.  We generally don't know the needs, sufferings and failures of people.

I work at a local grocery store chain.  A few years ago I was transferred to a different location.  At that particular time my Rheumatoid Arthritis had gotten somewhat out of control and the doctors were unable to regulate it.  I waddled around this new store wincing at every step, hardly able to navigate stairs or lift a gallon of milk.  Most of my attention was to keep from stumbling, not to meet people.

Workers at this new store had no idea who I was or how I normally acted.  They must have thought I was crabby, anti-social and insensitive.  I do the same thing.  I assume someone should be or act a certain way and I create conclusions based on me and my ideas, not on them and their concerns.  This, of course, is a great indication of how my heart works.....not theirs.

Do I give people the benefit of the doubt?  Do I take a chance to visit, to chat and know what's going on?  Or, do I in some weird way, feel better about myself by making someone else a monster? 

It seems, in verse twenty-five, that it is my responsibility to return kind words.  I don't need to make any judgements, no exceptions.....no definitions.  Kindness is my only expectation.

May some one's anxious heart spur me on to kind words of cheer instead of judgements I may regret.

Failure

Have you ever let someone down?  I sure have.  It's hard to show my face.  If someone trusted me, believed in me and was confident in my reasoning process and I failed them, would they accept me back?  Sure, they would be nice enough to include me again but will it always be a hesitant relationship?

Maybe Peter had the same issue as me.  In the last chapter of John, Jesus is asking Peter if he loved Him.  Peter answered, "Jesus, you know I love you."  Of course Peter loved Jesus but maybe it hurt to say because he had failed his Savior.  How could Jesus ever trust him again?  Then Jesus asked it again, "Do you love me?"  Peter loved his Savior more than you could know but Jesus would never believe him now.  He had been so boisterous, so confident in his loyalty and so defiant in his failure.  Was this the reasoning behind Jesus' continued questioning?

Was it going to be hard for Peter to go back out and be strong for Christ if he felt useless?  Maybe Jesus had to build Peter up again so he would be that rock to establish His church.  Maybe Jesus wasn't asking Peter about different kinds of love because Peter didn't get it, maybe Jesus was asking to build Peter up.  "Peter...you love me with all these kinds of love, don't you think I love you unconditionally?  You failed me but it doesn't affect my love for you.  Don't hide from me!  Let me help you be that strong rock.  Hold on....let's build my church!"

Jesus always gives us a new foothold instead of a stifling stranglehold.

Do you love Jesus?  He loves you more that you could imagine.  Step toward the Savior and leave your failure behind.