1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”
COVID hit us all hard. It hit us in waves that came crashing down on our lives. First the original strain hit us in 2020. We scrambled and adjusted and hunkered down for months and then slowly but surely things started to get better. The constant fear started to subside but at the end of 2020 and into 2021 the Delta variant hit us. This time we were better prepared, and we knew what to do to get through it. And just when we thought everything was back to “normal”, boom! The Omicron variant came to town at the end of 2021.
These ups and downs are similar to the ups and downs of our emotions as we go through life. Something happens in your life, like a sickness, a divorce, the loss of a job, an argument with your family, and you scramble and adjust and hunker down. Slowly but surely things start to get better…back to normal. Then just when you think everything under control, boom…another wave hits.
These ups and downs happen to everyone but when it is happening to you it is hard to know what to do. It is hard to look up and ask for help. But it is harder to go it alone. In Galatians 6:2 it says, “Carry each other’s burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.” There are people around you that want to help carry your burdens. There are people around you that want to pray for you and pour the love of Jesus into you. Prayer is a powerful tool and asking for prayer takes courage, but it will bring you comfort and peace. James 5:6 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
Life is difficult when you try to do it alone. We were made for community. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says, “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.” Look for a community of people that will build you up, fill you up with the Holy Spirit, and encourage you to grow your relationship with Christ, your savior.
Dear Lord, thank you for sending people into my life that will stand in the gap with me when I am feeling low and help me to be that person for someone else. Encourage me to seek out a community of like-minded people that will pour your love into my life. Amen.