Encouragement

I attended a worship jam at my church the other week. It is open to anyone, some who attend play an instrument, sing or dance others simply want the opportunity to soak in the LORD's presence. There is no planned structure, everyone just pitches up, someone starts playing something and it goes from there.
I have been involved in worship almost as long as I've been a Christian but haven't been part of any up front stuff for awhile. For me, this means that confidence in my singing abilities is a little shaky, the voice is a very personal instrument and I'm very aware that appreciation of any noise I make is in the ear of the listener, as it were. Therefore I am sensitive (probably overly so) of the people around me. So, when I was aware that in the group of people I was near I was the only one singing, I moved away a little, so as not to distract them if they were engaging with God.
At the end of the evening one of those people stopped me at the door as I was leaving to say that they thought I sung beautifully and wished that I had gone up to the microphone!
I laughed at myself for being a buffon for quite a substantial portion of the journey home, but was also touched by this reminder; God sees us in our little struggles and He prompts people to speak a word of encouragement. That person will never know how timely, apt and much needed their comment was. I hope that I in turn can learn to hear better, respond when prompted to speak a word of encouragement, however small it may seem, and pass the blessing on to someone else.