A Book Group discussion

Just before I entered into a dark time in my life I read a book in which a character would often say "All will be will." I hung onto that phrase for a while; even praying it. Then a week later, someone who knew I was going through a rough time, sent me an encouraging card. The inside simply said, "All is well." God answered my prayer through a Hallmark card sent by a friend who only wanted encouragement. What they didn't know was that they gave me a lifetime of encouragement.

Everything is well in the dark times because God is in control. The other lesson here is that you never know when your encouraging words or sentiments toward someone are actually an answer to prayer.

That is reason enough to make encouragement a habit.

This is one of the reasons I have become such an advocate of well-done, challenging life groups, whether it be Sunday School or mid-week. In our last women's class, I was challenged by the material, but more often challenged by other womens' responses to it. Their words, their testimony...made such an impact on me. We need each other, the body of Christ, we grow and are encouraged from speaking truth to one another. We are iron sharpening iron.