I was in the third grade. Our teacher passed out watercolor paints and brushes. She then instructed us to paint a picture of something we liked. I think I tried to paint a picture of my family. It was a disaster. No matter how hard I tried, it just kept getting worse instead of better.
I was so frustrated with my attempt that I finally balled up my hand into a fist and used the ball of my hand to rub out my picture. It just smeared. I swirled my hand around and around mixing all the colors into circles of various tints all across my page. I wanted to scream in failure and defeat.
About that time my teacher walked past my desk. She looked down at my picture and paused. Then she reached down, picked up my terrible attempt at painting and held it up for the class to see. As she did so, she made a statement that shocked me to my toes, “Look class at this beautiful watercolor done in Modern Art style.” Then she hung it on the board for all to see.
I wasn’t prepared for that. I couldn’t have been more shocked and I haven’t forgotten in all these years. She took my failure, that thing that I wanted to throw away, and turned it into something special, something to be admired by the whole class.
Was the picture actually that good, that special? Probably not! It was colorful though, that much I do remember about it. I think she probably saw my frustration and wanted to save me from the failure I saw in my mess. I really don’t know if she actually saw some potential in it. I personally think she was only trying to encourage me. And, it worked. Next time we set out to do some art work assignment, I was willing to try again.
Encouragement is something we all need at times. Life has those occasions when it can be awfully frustrating. Just like in my attempting to learn how to paint, if we haven’t developed skills in that area, frustration can surge to the surface causing our emotions to fly out of control. Relationships can be difficult when we encounter people from different backgrounds, habits and ways of looking at things.
Therefore, the Apostle Paul instructed us to be helpful instead of fanning the flames of frustration into a full fire. He says, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV). And then again in 1 Thessalonians 5:14, “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”
Be an encourager. Let your light shine as one who rescues others from their frustration – like my third grade teacher did.
– Just a Thought Dale Fillmore is lead pastor at New Day Church.
