Gen 48:2, When it was told to Jacob, "Behold, your son Joseph has come to you," Israel collected his strength and sat up in the bed. 
We are in the process of our consideration of what it means to collect our strength as the people of God in order to do all that the Lord presents before us as the course of our walk on this earth. Please keep in mind we are dealing the manner in which we are enabled, by God, to be the living witness and example to others of a life that is lived fully unto the honor and glory of the Lord God Almighty. 
We began, last time, with the fact of Jacob gathering the strength to sit up in his death bed in order to proclaim the blessing of God upon his grandsons. Then we followed through with some of the other patriarchs of the Old Testament and saw how God used many of His people as a means of being an encouragement and a support to others in times of trial and difficulty. He proved Himself over and over again when they were worn out or discouraged or facing absolutely overwhelming odds arrayed against them. In each situation, the Lord manifested His power in His people’s lives through those, sometimes even non-believers, who functioned as the Lord directed and charged.
This is where we will pick up this morning in terms of the Lord’s gracious provision of strength and encouragement and support as we are obedient to the manner in which our lives are lived on this earth. As this is the charge for the way in which we are to conduct ourselves, we must take to heart those who are so less able to deal with the daily issues of life. We are to have hearts that are open to those in need and in dire distress. How can we be that encouragement and that support if we are oblivious to the needs and the cries and the desperation of those in our spheres of influence? God cares and manifests Himself for the sake of the downcast and broken hearted, as should be the characteristic concern of each of His own people.
Consider just how much God provides for those who are in such dire distress. Ps 41:1-3 How blessed is he who considers the helpless; The Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble. The Lord will protect him, and keep him alive, And he shall be called blessed upon the earth; And do not give him over to the desire of his enemies. The Lord will sustain him upon his sickbed; In his illness, Thou dost restore him to health. 
God blesses those who consider the helpless as well as those in such dire need. He is their Deliverer, their Protector, their Keeper, and their Sustainer. He heals their illness and blesses them with salvation. Such should be the heart of consideration that is instilled into each of those who have been so rescued in time of need and helplessness for the sake of others. 
Then let us read together the great 35th Chapter of the Book of Isaiah in which God details just how fully He strengthens and upholds the hearts and lives of each person who calls upon Him in their day of need for salvation. It is His encouragement to us in all our dealings with those who are exhausted and stretched beyond their own capacity of strength and endurance. 
Isaiah Chapter 35, The wilderness and the desert will be glad, And the Arabah will rejoice and blossom; Like the crocus It will blossom profusely And rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, The majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the Lord, The majesty of our God. Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, "Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you." Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah. And the scorched land will become a pool, And the thirsty ground springs of water; In the haunt of jackals, its resting place, Grass becomes reeds and rushes. And a highway will be there, a roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it. No lion will be there, Nor will any vicious beast go up on it; These will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, And the ransomed of the Lord will return, And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away. 
…Say to those with anxious heart, "Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you. How often are we called to do exactly this in terms of dealing with those who are in such desperate and dire struggles on a daily basis? It is something that is a part of our lives because it is what God does constantly as detailed in this chapter. He opens the eyes of the blind to see what He is doing. He opens the ears of those who are so deaf to the detailed glory of God manifested in the beauty of His symphonic orchestration of heaven and earth. The lame are given the strength to run and leap for joy in the Lord. And those who are so silenced by fear and dread are freed to shout to the heavens the praises and the worship of God Almighty. 
All those who call upon the name of the Lord and all those who are enabled to encourage the lost and the blind and the deaf and the weary and the sick will come with joy and gladness and rejoicing to Zion. We can encourage the downtrodden and the depressed and the exhausted with the truth that there will be no more sorrow or sighing as we see God Our Redeemer high and lifted up. He will show Himself triumphant over all the cares and the worries and the trials and the plagues and the catastrophes and the disasters of this realm. We can all exult together and celebrate the reality that Our God Reigns, now and forevermore!
The Apostle Paul details this anthem of our rejoicing together and encourages us as we are to so encourage and strengthen others in Rom 5:3-8. Please turn to this and mark it in your Bibles if you have not done so already. Rom 5:3-8, And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 
This is the very heart of God with which we are to hearten one another. This is the reason that we are to take into our hearts and minds those who are less auspicious in their daily lives, so in need of help and encouragement and love and sustainment. Even as God so loved us and rescued us from our sin and trespasses, so should our lives manifest that very love for the sake of those in need and in weakness and in distress. As the Apostle John so reiterates in 1 John 3:16-18, We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 
This, then, brings us to another manner in which we are to bring encouragement and strength of heart and mind and body into the course of our lives as the means of enlightening others. There is a wisdom that is needed in the way of dealing with our own hearts and the hearts of others that must be employed. We must never just jump into the midst of a situation, thinking that we know what to do and how to do it! Neither can we impose our will and our way and our thoughts upon another. Everything must be done in accordance to that which is the plan and purpose of God in obedience to His guidance and His leading. There are times when, as dad used to say, God fixes a fix as the means of bringing forth that which is necessary for the benefit of a person’s heart. We dare not jump in to try to snatch that person out of the place in which God has specifically put that person or family for His work of grace and mercy and love to be accomplished. 
As we read in Prov 23:15-19, My son, if your heart is wise, My own heart also will be glad; And my inmost being will rejoice, When your lips speak what is right. Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the Lord always. Surely there is a future, And your hope will not be cut off. Listen, my son, and be wise, And direct your heart in the way. …Listen, my son, and be wise, And direct your heart in the way.
We must always listen to that which the Lord is telling us and obey in full accordance with His direction. This is the manner in which we are to encourage others. It is never a wise thing to try to circumvent the working hand of God in operation. To avoid such a travesty of heart requires the very wisdom of God. This is impossible without the knowledge that we must utterly rely upon God to be our wisdom in our every interaction with others. It requires that we know for a certainty what the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Cor 1:30, But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption… It is the very person of Christ Who will guide us and be our wisdom in every situation if we will but take the time and learn to listen and to trust Him to be our wisdom.  
Continuing on, then, let us read together, once again in Isaiah, Chapter 41, verses 10-14. Here we have another excellent passage of the Lord’s encouragement to us to count on Him as our source of strength and ability to endure in every situation and circumstance. Isa 41:10-14, 'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' "Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; Those who contend with you will be as nothing, and will perish. "You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, Those who war with you will be as nothing, and non-existent. "For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, 'Do not fear, I will help you.' "Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel; I will help you," declares the Lord, "and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. 
    	One of the great paralyzing forces that we face on this earth is that of fear. We have such a capacity to fear and to doubt and to give into anxiety as we look to ourselves and our complete inability to do anything especially in the midst of the severe storms and gales of our earthly existence. That is why God is very, very specific in His encouragement to us not to fear and not to be anxious about the things that are taking place in our lives. God has all the course of our lives well in hand. This is the message that we need to have instilled into our hearts so that we can thus encourage and strengthen those to whom God sends us with His admonition of trusting God in every situation!
	Our Lord, Himself, told us just how much God has us in His heart in love as we read in Matt 10:28-31. "And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. "Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows. 
Our Lord God Creator and Redeemer loves us so very much and values us to the point that He sent His Only Begotten Son to die for us on the cross. We are so fully in His infinite grace and love and mercy that even the hairs on our head are numbered by Him. Nothing comes our way that does not first receive His blessing upon it. This is true whether that be the wondrous things or those elements that cause us to seek Him, with all our hearts and minds and souls, to work out the smallest detail of our very survival on this earth.
	Once again, listen to the encouragement of the Apostle Paul as he recounts how everything is to be considered in the light of the glory of the manifest power of God working to strengthen and to guide our every step. Phil 4:6+7, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 
Be anxious for nothing… There is no area, no situation, no problem, no dilemma, no fear that should paralyze our hearts or our minds! In everything, whether we see it as good or as a catastrophe, we are to go to God with prayer and supplication and with thanksgiving for the fact that He is the One in charge of our lives! Nothing is beyond His Omnipotence and His Omniscience in even the minutest detail! 
To know God in this manner requires us to strengthen our hearts and our minds in the reality that with God nothing is impossible, no matter how it appears to our human eyes and understanding! When we know this in truth in living reality, then we are so enabled to encourage and to strengthen others not to give into any fear, but to wholly trust and rely upon God to meet the every need and circumstance. So be it!
When it was told to Jacob, "Behold, your son Joseph has come to you," Israel collected his strength and sat up in the bed. Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is Eph 6:23+24. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love incorruptible. Amen.