USE THE WORD FOR ENCOURAGEMENT

Therefore encourage one another with these words. – 1 Thessalonians 4:18

Emotional regulation sounds clinical and mechanical, but it is a core ingredient in living a healthy life! Observe a baby, in the first twelve months they learn to manage anxious feelings with behavior like sucking their fingers or holding a special blanket. Given their overwhelming helplessness in the world, it is amazing they grab the reigns and self-soothe.

God knows what a distressful world His children inhabit. Spiritually speaking, no person is a match for the forces of darkness they are up against. The devil is called the accuser, slanderer, deceiver, evil one, enemy, and murderer. Since believers in Jesus are satan’s prime targets, they need to know how to receive His peace!

The apostle Paul writes to the believers in Thessalonica about how to soothe the anxiety that comes from living in a hostile environment. He concludes his admonition to live holy lives and support each other with instructions to all followers to firmly attach their hope to the promises of God yet to come. “The Lord will descend with a cry of command… then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

In the midst of today’s troubles, be soothed today by the knowledge that your security is found in the Lord, not in this world. Find comfort in the overcoming, victorious power of the resurrected and returning Christ. Rest secure in Him.