Never Walk Alone

Pastor D.T. Niles once wrote about a member of his congregation whom he met on the street one day. She had been active for many years but had recently drifted away. She was suffering several personal and family problems. Evidently, it was a challenging time in her life. She told Niles that God had become distant to her, that she had lost any sense of closeness to Him, and that her faith did not seem to mean much anymore to her.

Here is how Niles answered her: “Not only now, but even in the future, there will always be times when God seems distant; when it looks as if God has forgotten you and does not care; when prayers go unanswered and life is unbearable. At such times, you must learn to hold onto your brothers and sister in the church. Your difficulty is that you tried to hold on to God alone, and we were never intended to hold on to God alone.”

Pastor Niles is right! We were never intended to walk the life of faith on our own! We do this together as a Family! Holy scripture says, “Let us not give up gathering together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).  

There will come a day when you are going to need someone to encourage you, but you can be sure, that on any given day there will always be someone present who needs encouragement from you. We need each other—God has so ordained it! So let us be sure to be here for the giving and receiving of encouragement.

This Sunday, I am told, will be a cold day in South Florida, so dress warm—pull out and wear your favorite warm clothes and coat—but be here with brothers and sisters and look for someone you can encourage. Who knows—you may be the one who is blessed and encouraged best this Sunday in church.

Devotedly yours,
Pastor Ron