Community Matters

Where are my flourishing friends who like to stay to themselves and like to be unbothered? Raise your hands! Yes, I see you! We can relate.

I was once a firm believer that I can do it alone. I thought I could keep my trials and struggles to myself, but that took a toll on me. When you're alone, the enemy is in his prime. The more the enemy attacked me, the darker my thoughts became and the more deeply into sin I fell. I was literally broken.

What do you do when you're broken?

You seek God. You pray. You get connected with the community God has placed around you. They are the ones who will help you through this hard time. When you're deep in sin your identity is no longer yours. When you've become so beat down and deep in sin you no longer recognize who you are anymore. BUT God. WOW. . .but God. God can renew your vision. That is exactly what He did to me. He renewed me in a way that I can't even put into words!

God is my creator.

God is my strength. God is my redeemer. God is my everything. He met me where I was and He liberated me from all of my brokenness. It took years to repair myself, but I put in the work and I fought the battle! This time, I wasn't alone. I had God. But I was still the friend who never shared their struggles or wanted to be vulnerable. But God worked on my heart in that area.

He put people in my life to help soften the hardness of my heart. He allowed me to get into the right friendships and relationships that allowed for transparency. As I started to tear down the walls on my heart, I became even more liberated. I spoke my truth. I shared my experiences. I let people know what hurts me, my struggles, my losses, and my testimony.

The first time I felt God tugging on my heart to share my testimony, I was reading the bible. The bible I read has short devotional passages, and on this day the devotional was about community. "We Need Each Other," was the title. To be honest, my first instinct was to not read it. But I felt God so heavily tugging at my heart in this area of community. By the time I finished reading it, I just had to laugh. I laughed at myself because how could I ever think in a million years that I could do this walk with Christ ON MY OWN? How insane was I?

What I learned is that I needed community. I'm a private person and the thought of opening up to others scares me. But God had placed specific people in my life for this very reason, my community. The crazy thing was, I was praying for this. I asked God to reveal to me who is supposed to be in my life and who needed to go. Ironically, all of my close friends remained in my life and I knew God was confirming that these are the ones who I can honestly trust.

In that moment, I texted my best friend and I told her I want to share with her my testimony with her. We didn't have the conversation until a few days later and boy did the devil try to talk me out of it! But doubt and uncertainty don't come from God, so I pushed through those thoughts and I prayed. A few days later, I shared my testimony, and ever since that day God birthed in me the urge to serve others. God birthed this ministry! God is still writing my story, but I have faith that He won't disappoint.

I want to encourage you today that community is awesome! Having people around you who are like-minded, share common interests, and beliefs are the ones that you need to remain close to. Of course, pray about everything. But when God confirms something, He'll 100 percent confirm it with His word. I encourage you to get into His word and see all that God has for you. Pray to Him and ask Him to open the eyes of your heart. He will reveal so much to you!

If you're struggling with community pray that God sends people into your life. Most times those people are already in your life and God is waiting on you to move. Faith without works is dead. Therefore, I encourage you to pray and act. Make prayer your weapon! Your community awaits you.

Be blessed!