One - All Alone: Offering relationship to a lonely world

It started with one; all alone. Then there were three and the next time was five. Who knows how far it could go.

I recently attended the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer's Conference. This conference is as big as its name is long. Its large size is a blessing as it is able to reach out to authors of many different genres. However, many of the masses are fiction writers and a large portion of the remaining population write articles and non-fiction books. Bible study writers make up a small percentage of the conferees.

This was my second time to attend the conference. Both experiences have taught me a Bible study writer can easily feel they are one; all alone. Each time, however, I learned we are not alone. On this trip, I found myself sitting at dinner with Andy and Katy, both fellow Bible study writers. After an excellent conversation regarding our respective ministries, we decided to meet for breakfast the next morning. We wanted to discuss the future of women's ministry and Bible study groups for the millennial generation.

Another group of conferees enjoying meal time together

photo courtesy of Mary Denman

Our breakfast meeting found five Bible study writers at the table, not three. Two of us had each found another Bible study writer feeling they were one; all alone. The next morning we were six and could have been eight if I had invited the two more study writers God brought into my path that day.

Bible study writers felt alone and isolated; no one understood who they were as a writer. The three of us who grouped together knew we had something to offer that would fill their need. So we invited others to join us.

How many people in our everyday lives feel like they are one; all alone? How many feel isolated and misunderstood? Here's the deal - believers in Christ have the answer. We have a message, a place of belonging, and a relationship that the world can't offer. But they will never know unless we invite them to join us.

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” (Romans 10:14-15 NIV).

Not My Way: Trusting in God's schedule

We schedule, we coordinate, we plan, and arrange. Sometimes, though, God has other plans. Last summer I set a goal to have my next book, Everything We Need: God's Path to Know Him Better, written by January 31 of this year. I calculated the dates I would need to complete each lesson so the final one would be done by that date. Knowing an accountability partner would help keep me on track, I emailed my schedule to a trusted friend and asked her to contact me at each due date. I gave her full freedom to hold me to my schedule.

Within a couple of weeks, that same friend did contact me. However, it wasn’t to make sure I was on schedule with my writing. She works in the office of a local Christian school and they were in a situation where they needed someone to help out for a couple weeks, three at the most. I knew the extra money would help us through a financially difficult time so I agreed. After all, my girls were done with their home school lessons for the summer and a couple of weeks wouldn’t mess up my writing plan too much. Nine weeks later, I finished working at the school. I had only a few days to prepare for our own new school year before classes started up again.

Everything was okay, however. I reassessed my writing schedule and extended my deadline to the end of February. My goal was to have the study written before a writer’s conference that I planned to attend in May. I knew this would still give me time to finish, edit, and submit it to the publishers before the conference. I also knew I would be able to dedicate every Tuesday to writing. 

Last fall I was presented with the opportunity to lead a mission trip to an orphanage in Haiti in January. I had always wanted to visit my friends at their orphanage there and also, I knew God was calling me to obey in this area. The organization of the trip, combined with the holiday season, destroyed much of my writing time and I fell hopelessly behind. Although I made a little progress, by the time the trip was over, I knew I had no chance of finishing the study by the end of February.

I gave up my schedule and committed the whole thing into God’s hands. I had no other choice than to trust Him for the time to write the remaining lessons. Free from due dates and deadlines, I plugged along through the rest of winter and early spring.

This past Tuesday (remember, that’s the day I set aside for writing) was the last day that my girls would be gone all day. It was also the last Tuesday before the writer’s conference. I didn’t stress or skim over sections. I simply sat at my desk and worked. I finished the book fifteen minutes before I had to leave to pick up my daughters from their last day of school.

Looking back, I see that God had the whole thing planned out from the beginning. He knew my friend would need help in her office for a few weeks. He knew I needed to be at an orphanage in Haiti. He knew both of those things would change my life in ways I never would have imagined before they occurred. Changes I never would have experienced if I had held tight to my own plans and schedules. He also knew I would have enough time to finish the book later.

Now, as I look forward to the future, I don’t even venture to guess what God plans to do with this new study. His ways are not my ways, and that’s a good thing.

Part of the Team: Being recognized as a follower of Christ

My daughter finished her spring soccer season this past weekend. Soccer is a popular activity for many of the young families in this community of 90,000 people. If you visit a local store or restaurant on any given Saturday throughout the season, you are bound to see a child in a soccer t-shirt. You recognize them by their jersey number in a distinctive font on the back of their shirt. Quite often, one of their parents is wearing a matching shirt distinguished by the word “COACH” above their number.

This last weekend was the tournament. Many families were out and about as they waited between the games of the different rounds. My husband – always friendly and talkative – struck up conversations with some of them. At lunch on Saturday, he asked some people how they did in the first round; he encouraged them as they started round two. On the second day, many families were waiting out a thunderstorm at a local pizza restaurant. My husband asked around to see if anyone had heard yet if the league was going to cancel or postpone the games. He then passed the information along to other families.

As Christians, we don’t have distinctive numbers on our back to let others know we are part of the team. Instead, Jesus left us with some qualities and behaviors that should be evident in our lives. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). Our love is the mark of His presence within us; it is the distinctive emblem showing we are part of the team. How we treat others displays how we love them. Our actions toward others are evidence of our faith and membership in the kingdom. (Read James 2:14-26; Matthew 25:34-46; and John 14:8-14.)

Returning to the soccer story, my husband is one of those parents with the word “COACH” on his back. As part of that role, he stands on the side lines of the field and instructs the girls. He tells them when and where they need to be on the field, how to play the game, and cheers them on when they make a goal. This weekend, though, he took the coaching role off the field and out into the world. He encouraged kids whom he recognized as players, even though they weren’t on his team. He passed along information to other families because he knew it would help them.

In our Christian lives, being a “coach” is also evidence of our relationship with Christ. As we grow in our understanding of Him, our responsibility is to teach and encourage others who are spiritually younger. We help them grow in their knowledge of God and know how to live a lifestyle honoring to God. We cheer them on in the process. Like my husband displayed this weekend, this doesn’t just apply for those on our personal team. All believers, the world-wide body of Christ, are all playing the same game. We all need to learn, grow, and be encouraged together as we wait for the return of Christ, “and all the more as we see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).