New Monmouth Musings: A Special Need for Prayer and Changing Dulcineas into beautiful Spanish Queens.

Dear Friends,

Before I share a devotional thought with you, let me ask of you to be in prayer for Jiju Johny and his son, Jeffrey, as they travel back to India to see Jiju’s wife Prasanna. They have been active in our church and both have been working in high tech jobs with AT&T. Prasanna went home several months ago to visit her family having every expectation that she would be allowed to return to her family. However, once she sought to return, she was unable to receive clearance. Jiju will be heading to India on Saturday in hopes of assisting her in her efforts to return. However, if he is unsuccessful, this wonderful family, who only came to know Christ  a year ago, will not be returning. Please pray for Jiju and Jeffrey as they return to India and for a favorable outcome of their immigration crisis.

One of my favorite plays is the “Man of La Mancha.” In it we witness how a would-be Spanish conquistador named Don Quixote was used to transform a woman, who pictured herself as a “wretched kitchen slut,” into a beautiful Spanish queen named Dulcinea. He simply gave her a new name and began treating her as a new person. The play closes with those unforgettable words we all have heard or sung: “To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe, to bear the unbearable sorrow, to run where the brave dare not go.”

Like Don Quixote, we need to be dream believers for people who don’t believe in themselves.  And then we need to do and say the things that help them believe they can become the person we see them to be. We need to help them dream big dreams-seemingly impossible dreams- and let them know that we will always be there to support their dreams, no matter how big those dreams may be.

The German philosopher, Goethe appreciated the power we possess to bring change in people’s lives. He wrote “Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.”

I remember hearing about a pastor who was called to a cold church. It had a reputation of being as frigid and unfriendly as an iceberg. Not willing to be deterred by its reputation, the pastor kept finding little things to applaud and affirm regarding the church’s warmth of Spirit. He kept pointing out examples of their friendliness, and he continually shared stories from the pulpit about the different ways that members were reaching out to new visitors. Before long, those members began to see themselves in the same way the pastor was describing them, warm, friendly, and caring and slowly the church was transformed into a different church, one where warmth and friendliness replaced a cold and unfriendly congregation.

Yes, there is power in the spoken word. Adam Clarke became a great scholar and preacher. He was also the author of a set of commentaries and a book called Christian Theology. But when he was a child his father told his teacher that “Adam wouldn’t do well in school.”  The father based his assessments on what he saw in his child at the time of his meeting with his teacher. The teacher responded, “He looks bright to me.” Those words changed the life of this eighteenth century Irish scholar. Just three words, but oh how powerful those words were and how wonderfully God used them to change this young boy’s life.

Whether it is our children, students, athletes, employees, or just anyone who crosses the pathways of our life, the expectations we have for them and the encouragement we offer them can unlock closed doors that open their lives for future success.

Paul exhorts us “not to let any unwholesome words come out of your mouth but only those that are helpful for building others up according to their needs.” (Ephesians 5:21)

Everyone needs encouragement, and everyone needs to have a Don Quixote in his/her life, who knows how the power of encouraging words can bring change in a person’s life. Who knows how the words you speak to someone might encourage them to see what they could become-even transforming a self-loathing woman like a Dulcinea into a beautiful Spanish queen.

Start praying today for God to bring a Dulcinea into your life, and then ask Him to show you how to encourage them and help them see and believe their life can be wonderfully transformed into that beautiful Spanish queen.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Pastor Tom