I Want to Encourage Him – Ken Ebright

“I will never leave you: I will never abandon you.” Hebrews 13:5 (NCV)

My dad slammed the door in my face. I had tried to do everything I could to encourage him. I tried to change his focus and pointed out the rehab facility was much better than the one he was in a few years ago. I gave him the scripture I quoted above and thought surely God’s Word would encourage him. It didn’t go over well as he told me to quit preaching.

My eighty-seven-year-old father had hip replacement surgery and was in a nursing home trying to learn how to walk again. He desperately wanted to go home, but he had to get his strength back first. I think at times, my dad felt like the Lord had abandoned him.

Sometimes, we don’t understand why we go through difficult times. It can be hard to trust God when things go wrong, and all hope seems lost. I felt abandoned when my mom committed suicide and other trying times in my life that tested my faith.

My dad refused to listen and be encouraged that day, but our Heavenly Father always listens to us. He will never leave us or abandon us and can use all things for our good. Imagine having people turn on you and nail you to a cross. If God can use the cross for our good, He can use any circumstance for our good. We just need to keep our minds off our circumstances and on Jesus, to walk in His peace in our troubled times. We only feel abandoned when we make our circumstances bigger than the solution, Jesus.

When we are in heaven, the hard times of life will seem miniscule in comparison to the joy of eternity with God.

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