I’ve had a best friend in every place I’ve ever lived, from Ohio and Michigan to Maine and now the Carolinas. New schools, new towns, new seasons of life, and each time, God placed someone in my path who truly knew me.
One day, my dearest friend sent me a homemade card. It arrived at the exact moment I needed her words. I sent a quick text to say thank you. She never heard the catch in my voice or saw the tears on my face, yet she read the ache between the lines. Forty-nine years of friendship will do that. She knew, because she knew me.
God Never Meant Us to Do This Alone
In 1 Timothy 5, Paul gives Timothy practical instructions for how the church should care for one another. He addresses older men and women, younger men and women, widows, families, and church leaders. Read the whole chapter, and one thread runs through it. God designed His people to live in community and to care for one another.
There are seasons when we have strength to spare for someone else, and there are seasons when we are the ones running on empty, needing a listening ear or a shared meal or a phone call that shows up at just the right moment, the way my friend’s card showed up at mine.
Carrying the Weight Alone
One danger is convincing ourselves we can handle everything alone, telling ourselves we don’t want to bother anyone or let people see the struggle, so we carry the burden in silence. But that is not how God designed His church to work. Galatians 6:2 says, “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ” (NLT). God gave us each other on purpose.
1 Timothy 5 (overall theme); Galatians 6:2, NLT — “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.”
Feed Just One
Mother Teresa once said, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” You do not have to fix every problem for every person in your path. Sometimes showing up for one person, listening to one person, and praying for one person is exactly the kind of feeding Mother Teresa meant.
Let People In
Being part of the church means letting someone else do the same for you. Life gets hard, and isolating yourself only makes the weight heavier. When you see someone else struggling, do not assume another person already has it covered.
One Person This Week
Think of one person this week who might be lonely, discouraged, or simply in need of encouragement. Send a text, make a phone call, invite them for coffee, or show up with a meal…or maybe go the old fashioned route and send a physical card in the mail.
If you are the one who is struggling, take the harder step and let someone know. Forty-nine years taught my friend how to read between the lines of a simple text. Someone in your life is ready to learn how to read yours.
“Someone in your life is ready to learn how to read yours.”
Tweet