Encourage-[en-kur-ij] to inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence.
The enCourage Blog is weekly dose of encouragement in a world that is often filled with bad news. We offer life-giving entries each Monday and Thursday written by gifted women from across our denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). You can subscribe below to have them delivered to your inbox. With hundreds of blog pieces, you can search on a variety of topics in the search bar above to read and share with friends. Christina Fox, a gifted author, serves as our enCourage General Editor. If you are interested in submitting a piece, you can contact her at cfox@pcanet.org.
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Christ’s Presence in Our Weakness
GABRIELLA DJUNATAN|GUEST “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” I have seen 2 Corinthians 12:10 all over Instagram bios and on water bottle stickers. It’s one of those catchy one-liners that every Christian has heard or quotes in times of sickness or personal loss. However, what does true strength in weakness actually look like? And how do we know that we have it? Do we just need to feel weak physically or emotionally to “unlock” Christ’s strength? Returning this verse to its context teaches us that true strength in weakness is not simply positive thinking or manifesting good thoughts, but it is rooted in Christ’s work, who was also glorified in weakness. Paul’s Painful Thorn Preceding this verse, Paul shares how he was given a thorn in his flesh to keep him from becoming proud (verse 7). He has just shared of great, heavenly revelations that he experienced in 12:1-4. But God allowed this thorn to teach him humility. Paul had to deal with an ongoing negative situation that kept him from becoming self-absorbed. There are broad opinions around what this “thorn” was that Paul experienced—whether a physical illness, psychological condition, or external persecution. Though the text is silent as to the specific identity of Paul’s pain, the location is clear that he was afflicted physically in his flesh. Moreover, the “thorn” is not just a random weakness but one given by God to teach him humility and keep him faithful in his service....
Entrusting Your College Student to the Lord
SHEA PATRICK | CONTRIBUTOR Our first child was born eighteen and a half years ago. My husband and I could not believe that after only a couple of days the hospital was going to send him home with us. We felt unprepared and out of our depth to deal with the needs of a newborn. Truthfully, he has served as the “guinea pig” as the oldest of five siblings. As he has grown through the years, we have grown along with him as parents, facing new challenges, situations, and transitions. From the first days of elementary school to the first day of high school, we have attempted through God’s grace to guide him in the ways of the Lord. In less than a month, he will move 6.5 hours away to college. This move will end the family life that we have known for so many years. The change is bittersweet. After all, we want our children to grow and mature and develop into young men and women. It is a natural part of life. However, I must admit to mixed feelings and questions during this time of transition. Maybe you find yourself in a similar situation and are asking similar questions to these: Have I done enough?...
Serving God in Weakness
BETHANY BELUE | CONTRIBUTOR While in my twenties and living in NYC, I was given the opportunity to interview for a leadership position at a large church. I was excited about the opportunity, confident to interview, and hopeful to step into this role—that is, until the second round of interviews began and an older, wiser woman with pointed eyes looked across a table from me and said “What makes you think you have anything to offer this role? You are young, you are single, and you have no children? Do you believe parents will listen to you?” I was stunned, humiliated, and didn’t know how to respond. The Corinthians’ Misunderstanding of Strength The book of 2 Corinthians was written because the apostle Paul had the opportunity to minister to a church that was filled with people who were being influenced by false teachers and seeking to live out a gospel that was driven by knowledge and prestige. The church had fallen into a trap that contradicted the gospel of Christ. In doing so, the Corinthians were doubting Paul’s role as an apostle and the truths he was so desperately urging them to believe...
When Pain Has Purpose
KATIE POLSKI | CONTRIBUTOR I have a friend who’s been going through a rough season. I’m not sure “rough” is an adequate word. Deep pain, unimaginable pain, has touched her marriage, her kids, and her parents all at once. She expressed recently that she simply didn’t know how to put one foot in front of the other. Other friends are currently grieving an unwanted diagnosis and the awful effects of chemo. Several sisters are confused about how to help aging parents; and still, many are just exhausted, silently disappointed, or deeply lonely. The honest question we ask in seasons of hurt and hardship is, “Why would God allow this?” As honest and real as that question is, so is our response to pain in this life: anger, numbness, and striving to “just get through.” But what would it look like to stop viewing suffering as an inconvenient detour…as an awful back road you just have to survive to reach something better? What if instead you saw your pain as part of your life with Christ… as part of belonging to his family? Suffering is and will be a part of life until Jesus returns. We were never promised otherwise. In John 16:33, Jesus says, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Yes, there is real pain, but do you hear the hope in that verse? Because Jesus has overcome the world, defeating sin at its root, those who belong to God can trust that even our suffering is not meaningless. In His sovereign wisdom, God works through every hardship for His good and perfect purposes and for the good of His children...
Weakness as Warfare Strategy
CHRISTINE GORDON | CONTRIBUTOR Unless you or someone close to you has a military background, warfare strategy isn’t something you probably think about much. But as believers, we are in a thousands-year-long conflict with the world, the flesh, and the devil. In 2 Corinthians 10, we read a snippet about that war. A Plan for Battle Some of Paul’s friends had been taken captive in the city of Corinth, and his strategy for freeing them included the ancient practice of siege warfare. His battle plan included three distinct steps: First, demolish the fortified military stronghold. Second, take all enemies captive. Finally, punish any remaining resistance. Any citizen in first century Corinth would have been aware of such battle tactics, and all would have understood that the resisters in the city would eventually lose against the invading commander. Don’t remember this part of 2 Corinthians? Perhaps a clue will help: Paul’s battle was not conducted with maps and guns but with the power of God. He and his fellow soldiers were waging war in the spiritual world with a different kind of munition...
Communion with the Body of Christ
JULIANNE ATKINSON |GUEST A popular teen came to me voicing her main concern about our upcoming road trip to camp in the Colorado Rockies. Though the 14-hour bus ride often brought excitement of its own– with broken AC in the Texas heat, getting stuck in a ditch on the mountainside, or the dead of night gas stop--her worries rang true to the most persistent issue students came to me with: “I don’t have a bus buddy,” she confessed. The kids planned ahead of time hoping they wouldn’t have to navigate the social awkwardness of spending the long trip with a stranger. One neglected thing about loneliness is that it infects everyone. From kids perceived as popular to classic nerds, students from every walk of life feel the same thing. As data now reveals regarding Gen-Z and their mental illness crisis resulting from a phone-based childhood, the outpouring of these comments has started to make more sense. Teens are less competent in real world relationships. They navigate their transition to adulthood and wrestle through becoming their own person. They push and pull, distance themselves from their families and find belonging in outside relationships. Historically these were real world peers. Now, teens find community online through YouTube, video games, and social media...
