Pastor Joey, speaking in a Sunday morning sermon, highlighted the biblical principles God offers all of us as we struggle with the harsh realities of life. Stay persistent with God. Identify the need you are struggling with. Don’t attempt to bring about wellness on your own terms. Take God at His word, and take the initial steps God has for you, and then, walk forward, totally dependent on the God who wants to bring the wellness, and find the others too God has for you to journey with, others who can encourage you because they have walked a similar journey.
I questioned whether or not Pastor Joey or myself, were over-simplifying. What Pastor Joey said did echo words I had written years earlier and continued to teach, especially to those broken by life circumstances. Face it – Identify the brokenness or need that is yours. Feel it – Identify the consequences of your brokenness or need. How has it affected you? How has it affected others around you? Forsake it – Give it to God in utter dependence. Ask for His leading, guidance, and provision. Be ready to repeat these “steps” as often as needed. Pastor Joey though wisely encourages us to not face our struggles alone. Again, find the others too God has for you to journey with, others who can encourage you because they have walked a similar journey.
But, Bev, isn’t God enough? Most definitely, but, God uses people, community, to touch our lives with His truth, His heart, His direction, His provision. We do need each other, and God planned it that way. God encourages the help of others throughout Scripture. Probably one of the most repeated and relatable illustration of others giving to help another is the story of the men who carried a paralyzed man to a house Jesus was teaching at, and the crowds who were listening blocked their entering. No problem for this community of helpers. They carried the man to the roof, dug a hole through the roof through which to lower their friend to Jesus. Jesus did the rest, and the paralyzed man found both forgiveness and physical healing.
Personally, I have seen the help community can give when moms who have suffered the loss of a child, gather in community with other moms. We are free to share our broken emptiness, our questions, and our fears – and know we will be understood and accepted, and therein lies community. But because of that community, we can also become the heart and voice of our God who gives His love, His comfort, His strength, and even brings beauty from tragedy.
And so many other needs persist in the lives of so, so many. God needs us to become His heart and voice, His hands and His feet, to become the community that is needed. Especially when we have walked a similar journey, But sometimes the only similarity needed, is knowing the “whatever” God has done for us, and from a heart of gratitude, becoming part of the community another needs.
– Bev
