Reflection: The Encourager
Not to be confused with yesterday’s friend of Paul (Onesimus), this is another of the apostle’s friends, Onesiphorus. Both men are attentive to Paul—the once dynamic, world-travelling evangelist of their day—who is a zealot now restricted, repressed, shunned…and lonely. Both men are friends of the imprisoned.
I’m a fan of prison ministry. Not that I’ve been a visitor myself. The closest I’ve come was hitching a daily ride to work with a former prisoner. There was good reason for his being punished for life. But someone visited him, wrote to him, called him…and shared the gospel with him. And there was I, hitching a ride with a changed man…because someone unashamed and persistent had intentionally befriended him in prison.
It’s unimaginable how many Onesiphoruses God has hand-picked around the world, to quietly sit at a bedside, to serve up meals, to write letters, to shop and clean and clean-up after, to visit, to read to, pray with, to laugh and share tears…to—like Onesiphorus—intentionally, persistently and unashamedly befriend and encourage.
Is that you?
Prayer:
“Lord grant mercy on that day!” Bring perpetual and present fruit from the quiet and persistent friendships of your people. Give us vision. Inspiration. Humility. Tenacity. Help us to pull up our sleeves in unheralded places. To sincerely and generously pay attention to lonely and discouraged people. And to never be ashamed of our calling.