Smallest Gift, Sizeable Encouragement

Arriving home one flustered day, I was greeted with a clump of unattractive mail, cluttering up an otherwise neat dining room table, set for the evening meal. It had been a profoundly disenchanting day. And the first letter I open was an unexpected bill, and then there was the reminder of a parking fine to pay that we had transferred from my wife’s name to mine. I was feeling pretty beaten at this stage, and what with the meal to finish, and our three-year-old son acting his age, my wife was already engaged.

Then, from the pile, she shoved a smaller, distinctive envelope toward me. Immediately I was curious. I slid the card out, opened it, and was struck by such little white-space.

Words. I like words. I do like them very much. Words of encouragement, but words also of reminder; of God’s eternal goodness. I personally like words of encouragement, but the words of Psalm 16 were a covenant reminder: He is with us, for us, never against us.

It was a small gift. It cost all of a dollar to procure the card, perhaps five minutes to write it out, and another dollar to post it. But the card (I later found out) was kept prayerfully for several weeks, without a good deal of intention, yet it landed in my hand at precisely the right time.

God times encouragements for when we’re discouraged, and hope for when we’re despairing, so expect joy amid sorrow.

Not only were we mightily encouraged by the words in that card, we were doubly encouraged by the timing of its receipt, and triply that the giver of the card was encouraged by God’s use of it.

Small gifts are sizeable encouragements, and can prove to be catalysts for turning points in people’s journeys.

It’s amazing how significant are the good gifts God gives, which are ever small, because small things convey love with power.

May you be blessed in both the giving and receiving of encouragements that serve to build up the Body of Christ.