I enjoy encouraging people.  It’s something that comes natural to me.  If I see or notice something about a person, I feel the need to tell them.  Oftentimes, I have taken this compulsion as just a little thing but I am seeing more and more that it isn’t a small thing at all.  There are times when, what to me seems minuscule, means the world to others. Each time I am faced with this fact, it startles me a bit.

See, you never know how one kind word can impact someone.  A person could be having a really tough time, or worse, have suicidal thoughts, and one kind word could make all the difference.

I know of one such time where the words used, weren’t even kind per se, they were just words, but they meant everything, so much so, that a life was literally saved.  If I remember correctly, my brother Scott who told a group of us about this, said the words were, “Yellow flamingo”. If I’m wrong, we’ll just pretend that’s correct.

There was an event (Christian gathering of some sort), and someone got a word from the Lord and it was “yellow flamingo”.  They got nothing else, no insight whatsoever.  So, when the opportunity came for them to get on the mic and say it, although they felt beyond silly, they went.  Imagine, a gathering filled with people and you get “A word from the Lord” like that with nothing else.  Now, there are times that I get what to me is a strange word and nothing more.  Then, when I say that part, the Lord gives me more.  It’s an exercise of trust.  Anyway, this poor soul got nothing else, lol, even after saying it.  So, after getting on the mic and saying, “Yellow flamingo”, and getting nothing else from the Lord, the person turned, intending to return to their seat.

Suddenly, there was a loud cry. The (crying) person was approached.  Sobbing, the person said that they had planned to commit suicide once they returned home that evening.  They hadn’t even planned on attending the event but had the sudden urge to go, and before leaving, they told the Lord, “If you tell someone to say ‘yellow flamingo’ to me, I won’t kill myself.”  Well, that brave person literally saved a life that day.  We just never know how we can help others.

This is why, in part, when I feel impressed by the Lord to say something, anything to others, I just do it.  I’m only responsible for being obedient in giving the word, I’m not responsible for what happens next.  I just need to do my part.  Imagine if the person thought, “Yellow flamingo?  That doesn’t even make sense! I’m not saying that!  I must be just making stuff up!”, and said nothing.  If they had stayed silent, a precious life would have been lost that evening, but God is so good that He told a person who would push past feeling uncomfortable or even embarrassed, and just deliver the life saving words to the one who desperately needed it. Wow!!

God is really good at getting us to step out of our comfort zone, but we have to be willing to go.  The rewards of following His leading in this way are nothing short of amazing but it can also be a quite sobering experience.  You just never know.  I encourage you this week, to unleash a multitude of encouraging words over others.  No one should be safe from getting a kind word from you.  I challenge you to especially do it with one who is being… a bit difficult to love, hahaha.  That’s some real stuff right there! If you find that too difficult, baby steps, give a kind word to someone else.  Have fun with it.  It’s like scattering seeds of something delicious and looking back to see that you have an enormous harvest to enjoy.  It is one of those things that blesses the person and you, and it feels wonderful!  So, go for it!  Bless some people with kind words and watch how things change for you.