part 5 of the “after” series
In the last post of this series, we looked at friendships and that we are not meant to do life alone (Genesis 2:18 + Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). God did not create us to be isolated and without people in our lives. However, for many months this year, we have experienced a season where we could not get together with friends face to face. This period of time showed me that I need people in my life and that friendships are good. Those few months also made me realize how I could be a better friend after this pandemic is fully over.
I want to look at one verse in the book of Ecclesiastes 4 for this post. This verse jumped off of the page at me when I was reading verses 9-12 over again. In verse 12, Solomon says:
“Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” - Ecclesiastes 4:12 NLT
Solomon spends the previous verses talking about friendships and how it’s good to have someone in your life to help you. Then, if we are not careful we can miss what he says in verse 12. I know I have skipped right over it. Solomon changes real briefly to the benefit of groups and having more than one person by your side.
Jesus realized the benefit of this as well. Jesus, the Son of God, realized that He could not do life alone either. Jesus realized that He needed friends. But not just friends, He needed a group of them. And what a group He picked! He picked fishermen, a tax collector, and a few other guys, to be in His group of 12. But He knew He would need them and that they would need Him. Jesus spent 3 years with His little group of men.
This shows me the importance of having groups of people to help you through life. A few days before I started writing this post, I meant with a lady from church. She told me of how her small group came through for her when she needed them the most. She told me how at every turn another lady in her small group was there to help her do something or just get through another moment. She told me how beneficial that was for her.
I have also experienced the same kind of community. When I walked through a season in my life, I didn’t even have to ask for people to come to my side. I just told my story and what was going on and people just started checking in with me, spending time with me, and offering encouragement from their life and how they got through a similar situation. They all really helped me through.
Just last night, I met with a group of friends. There were 2 people there that I had never met before. But we were sitting there and we were talking about relationships. One of the people there had his relationship of 16 years end suddenly and he does not even really know why. As he shared that, even though I didn’t even know him, I was able to relate to his story. I was able to be a little bit of help to him.
Jesus did the same with His group as well. Jesus told them a lot of things, most of which they didn’t understand at the time, which would help them later. Jesus was also there for them on a personal level as they spent time together. But we might miss this, the disciples were also there for Jesus when He needed them. We can forget that Jesus was human and felt all of the emotions that we do. Jesus needed His people just like we do.
We all need people in our life. Life was not meant to do alone.
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