My devotional today included a verse that really made me think. What am I actually doing for the Lord? I am not an outspoken preacher or a missionary going to foreign lands. Rather, I am an armor-bearer, helping along those who are the leaders, those who are doing the actual work but who need my support.

Jonathan had an armor bearer, one who encouraged him and told him that he was with him in all that he set out to do. That is what I see as my responsibility. I am an encourager for those who are doing, a background cheering squad who prays and wants only the best for those whom God is sending. I am old and unable to travel or go, but I can stay and pray. I can send financial resources when God prods me to do so. I may not be the go-er and the do-er, but I am the one who helps to carry the burden so that the mission can be accomplished. It’s not a job that carries a lot of kudos or recognition, but that is not what I am here for. I am here to do the best I can until God calls me home, so I am content to be an armor-bearer.

As you go through your day, think of all the ways you can encourage others who are facing a day of being in the world and having to face persecution or ridicule, battles that we may no longer be a part of because of life’s circumstances. Pray for them, the friends who are still working every day, still bearing their cross every day and showing Jesus to a lost and dying world.

It’s not that I don’t still represent Jesus when I go out and about. Of course, I do! I just don’t go out much anymore. But the nurses and doctors I see need to see a positive attitude and a smiling face as much as anyone else. So do the people in the check out lines and anyone else I come across that God encourages me to encourage them. I am an armor bearer, not the one on the front lines, but the one backing them up and sowing little seeds so the harvest can eventually be produced.

Paul had multiple armor bearers and thanked them in his many letters, reminding other believers that he had supporters that also needed support.

As an armor bearer, I can stand in the gap and pray and I can be the best encourager possible. My words mean something to someone somewhere. I hope you will all take the responsibility of being an armor-bearer seriously. The work of the kingdom depends on each of us.