In my devotionals this morning, I read first about David about to take the city of Jerusalem. He met opposition and ridicule from the Jebusites who were there.

Basically, they were saying even the blind and the lame could hold him off. The next verse is very telling about David’s faith.

Look at that word, “nevertheless.” In spite of the ridicule and bullying from the Jebusites, David took the city. He knew Who was going before him so he was not afraid, but rather bold and fearless. There weren’t encouragers in that Jebusite crowd, were there? David knew the Lord was with him and that was all the help he would need. He ignored the taunts of the Jebusites and went ahead and did what God had told him to do.

My next devotional was about encouragement and the scripture took me to the book of Job. I thought to myself as I read, “Why would the verses be from Job when his friends didn’t encourage him and he was sitting in a pile of ashes, miserable and basically waiting to die?” Then, God shed His light on the Word and showed me that Job had previously been an encourager to others. He was known for his encouragement. In fact, his “friend” Eliphaz is the one who speaks these words to him. Eliphaz lets us know what encouragement should look like even as he goes about discouraging and judging Job.

Job instructed, strengthened and held people up when they needed it. Now that he needs encouragement, it is not to be found in his so-called friends who are there more to judge him than to encourage. But Job’s steadfast encouragement of others is noteworthy because this is the kind of encouragement we should be giving to others every day. We instruct them in the ways of God and help them physically when they need help. Even if we are unable to help others physically because of our own limitations, we can use our words to help people not to stumble in their faith and to be firm in their faith.

Are you a Jebusite or a Job? I would prefer to be a Job, but I know that sometimes I slip into the role of a Jebusite, a naysayer who doesn’t have enough faith to believe that God can carry through with what He has promised. I pray to be more like Job, more of an encourager. After all, God is going to carry out His plans with our without me…I need to get on His side and be the encourager needed to help the plans move forward! How about you?