We Were Meant for Community

I have worked from home for most of the last 14 years, minus a short stint of time that I worked at my children's school for approximately 2.5 years. Over those years I have from time to time considered finding another job, mostly due to anxiety over finances. It wasn't until recently that I looked for a job and discovered it was for many different reasons. 

You see, my husband recently changed jobs. He no longer has a company vehicle and now uses the vehicle that we now share. He has a more flexible job and comes and goes throughout the day. You would think that this would be something that would help me feel less isolated. My husband is around throughout the day, right?  

Unfortunately for me this also means that I many times do not have a vehicle to use during the day and I am therefore stuck at home without a means of transportation. So this time when I started looking for a job I began to consider why I was doing so. After all, it would be a drastic change for me, and for what reason?  

I spent some time praying about this, then I talked to both my husband and a trusted friend and after a while I realized, I'm not unhappy in my current career, owning my own business, however, I am feeling isolated. I am unable to come and go from home as I please and I am lacking interaction with other adults in my everyday life.  

So, after a couple of weeks of thought and prayer, I realized I didn't need a new job. I needed community. The Bible has a lot to say about community and I will tell you one thing if the Lord wants to get your attention and grow you and stretch you in an area of your life he will. In his way and his timing, because after this realization I joined a ladies' Bible study last night at a sister church that I don't normally attend, and guess what the topic of last night's study was?  

The Joy of Community

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says, "Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

We were not meant to live in isolation. As Ramsey says, "Community is life-giving—and essential to following Christ. Scripture says that’s because we’re better together than we are alone (Romans 12:4–5)." 

In his book, Count it All Joy, Dr. David Jeremiah quotes J.I. Packer as saying, "We should not . . . think of our fellowship with other Christians as a spiritual luxury, an optional addition to the exercises of private devotion. We should recognize rather that such fellowship is a spiritual necessity for God has made us in such a way that our fellowship with himself is fed by our fellowship with fellow Christians and requires to be so fed constantly for it's own deepening and enrichment." 

God knows what we need and he knows when we need it. For our physical health, our spiritual health, and our mental health. He is ready and he is willing to provide what we need, but we must look to him for that provision and not at the Classified Ads.  

Don't forget to "feed" all the areas of your life, not just the physical or God will definitely begin to show you your shortcomings and the areas in which you need to be fed.