I just bought some sweet honey recently. It is so good! We consume lots of honey in our house. I like it in my hot tea, we put it on english muffins in the morning, PB sandwiches, you name it! It made me think back to this visit that I had in my classroom many years ago. I had a friend who raised bees and he came and shared the process about raising and caring for them. He dressed up in beekeeper attire and took them through the whole experience. The kids loved it! Then he had a gift. It was really important to him that all of the children got to try something. He wanted each of them to get a chance to taste the honeycomb. “It is the sweetest part,” he said. “It is so good!” I ate a sample of the honeycomb and it was so delicious and sweet.
I was looking at my jar of honey and started to recall that there are many places in the bible with verses about honey. I love how God pieces moments of our lives together to show something. I looked in Proverbs and saw this verse: Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. - Proverbs 19:6
Just recently, my husband and I met some new people that are in leadership at the church we attend. We never had a conversation with them and I noticed immediately that my husband spoke encouraging words to them about their ministry and their demeanor and how he appreciated them. I was so proud and enamored with my husband in that moment because he offered such kind words to them before even knowing them on a deeper level and I saw Jesus in that moment. My husband has a natural gift of encouragement so it was effortless to him but it still took obedience to say them to strangers. Such a sweet offering, much like the honeycomb that I remember tasting.
Yesterday I met with some people about an opportunity and felt encouraged by the people sitting around the table because they were making sure I was seen for my individual gifts, when I myself was discounting them. Their kind words truly were like the taste of the honeycomb. It was so encouraging. Jesus was speaking through these people to encourage me in a time I needed it.
Encouraging words affect people and can heal things we know nothing about. It could be loss of dreams, discouragement, a hard day, a hard month, a hard year, a hard life. That encouragement could create a new path or it could just bring Jesus in their life. Our encouraging words can be a healing gift and Jesus is right in the middle of it.
Pic credit to Archana GS from Pexels.