These days, we all live in VERY busy times. There are demands from our family, our jobs, and our friends. We have kids in sports, houses to care for, clothes to wash/fold, yards to mow, cars and trucks to care for…
In the middle of all the things we have to do and keep-up with, maintaining good personal relationships can get brushed-off for other things. When that happens, those around us can often feel left-out or unappreciated. It happens to all of us. I bet you’ve felt that way at some point in the past few weeks? If not, you should count yourself fortunate.
In our young adult class last night, I stopped to talk about a man mentioned by Paul in his letter to Timothy…
“This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. “ (2 Timothy 1:15-17)
We often forget about folks mentioned in the scripture like Onesiphorus, but in these short verses, we learn so much about him. First, he cared about people and did much to encourage Paul. Remember that Paul is in prison for doing what Christ commanded him, to preach (something that all humans could benefit from), yet so many wanted him stopped and/or killed.
Imprisoned and feeling forgotten and forsaken by so many who were ashamed of his chains, life would have been very lonely for Paul. Some may say, “but Paul had the gift of the Holy Spirit, he would have been able to deal with is situation”. Really? Why does Paul say, “…for he often refreshed me…” in the passage above? Not only did this man encourage, we see that this he worked to find Paul to let him know he cared about Paul.
People like Onesiphorus are mentioned for a reason in scripture. God wants us to look at their lives and try to incorporate some of their good attributes in our own lives. Barnabas is another person who was great at encouragement (Acts 4:36).
No matter how busy we are, we need to remember that there are those all around us who can feel forgotten or unappreciated (including us). Take time to tell those in your family, at work, your friends, and especially your church family or those who are sick or shut-in that you care about them and appreciate all they do for you and for the sake of the gospel.
If you would like someone to tell you that, turn it around and see why it is good for us to tell others. Do whatever you can to ensure that those around you are strong, confident, and are not forgotten. :^)