November 27-28 – Friends in need

Be happy with those who are happy and weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12:15 TEV)

One way or another we have all experienced suffering in life, situations that nobody should ever have to go through alone, times when we need people to weep with us. Such as waiting alone in the hospital while a loved one is undergoing life-and-death surgery. No woman should ever have to wait alone for the lab report on a cancer biopsy or problem pregnancy. No parent, husband or wife should have to wait alone for news of a loved one from a battlefield. And we all know the gut wrenching pain of standing at the edge of an open grave – no one should stand there alone, or spend the first night alone after a spouse has died or walked out.

It is inevitable that some of these things are going to happen to us. We’re going to go through tragedy - get bad news - experience heartache. Only a fool would go through life totally unprepared for something that we know is going to happen. The time to build a safety net — the network of supporters and friends — is now.

God offers us a safety net - a group of other believers. We don’t need a hundred. We only need five or six — a group of other believers who are committed to us and we are committed to them.

Rick Warren writes: 'There was a guy who came to Saddleback Church for seven years. He sat up in the bleachers. He never got involved in anything, never joined a small group. He just came to worship and then left right after the service. One day he had a heart attack and was in the hospital for two weeks. I was traveling and didn’t even hear about it until I got back. When he got out of the hospital, he came to church and said, “I’m leaving the church.” I said, “Why?” He responded, “Because it’s unfriendly. Nobody visited me in the hospital.” As he left I thought, “It’s your fault!”

He never cared about anybody but himself. He never cared enough to even meet anybody. He never got in a small group, never gave, never shared. It was his fault that when the crisis came, nobody was there for him, because he never made any connections.' Does this sound familiar? Does this describe you? Or maybe it's someone you know who attends your church?

God never intended any of us to go through life isolating ourselves, being friendless. Here’s God’s plan: “Be happy with those who are happy and weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15 TEV). To do this we have to reach out to others, care about and for them – be a living, mixing,thriving member of our community. Community is God’s answer to despair. We were not made to be alone, but to share our lives with others!

Now is the time to find the people who will support us through life. People who will rejoice with us in our victories and weep with us in our troubles.

Music to go with today's blog is “Loving God Loving Each Other” - the Gaither Vocal Band