“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” Colossians 3:16
Oh, how beautiful it was to be surrounded by a body of believers this morning.
Growing up, I viewed church as nothing more than something to check off of the weekly to-do list… and only when it fit into the already set schedule of life. I didn’t need to go to church and I certainly wasn’t really interested in being a “church person.”
But over the past few years, my entire perspective on what we call “church” has shifted.
This week, many of my conversations have boiled down to one common theme: community. Some friends have undergone recent relocations and are wondering what a new community is going to look like. Other friends have watched people fall away from their lives and are awaiting new friends to step into this next season of life with. Some friends are surrounded by and walking with a wonderful community. Yet others are still navigating how to utilize and be vulnerable within their community. No matter the situation, there is one commonality – a desire for a deeper sense of community.
In the midst of all of these conversations, I was left absolutely convicted. Over the past two plus years, between travel nursing and the pandemic, truly setting roots down in a church has not been an option. Three months here, followed by another three months there. Don’t get me wrong, I have made amazing connections throughout these short stents, but there has not been a true sense of longevity in physically doing life with the body of each individual church.
With my very first travel assignment, I was in a mad chase for community to no avail and it was there that God begin to teach me that He, alone, was enough. In the time between now and then, He has continued to grow my dependence upon Him. He has taught me how to be content without a physically present community and honestly, He has brought me to crave that time with Him alone.
But today I am in a place where I can see longevity within a community and I have even come across a church in which I greatly feel that the Lord has led me to. Yet, there have been multiple Sundays that I have woken up and talked myself into a personal quiet time with the Lord instead of making my way to the church building.
As I heard the voice of my friend speak about how much she misses her community, I was stopped in my tracks. I finally have an opportunity (note: not an obligation) to join together with a body of believers and I have actively made the choice to remain alone on multiple occasions.
Though my quiet time in scripture by myself has been very rich recently, it is not a replacement for the community that is now available to me! I have for so long desired to be able to be a part of a church again, to be able to walk with other believers, to do life together, and to simply sing praises to the Lord together, and now that it is an option, I have begun to let it pass by.
Before hanging up with my friend that day, I had already made the commitment to intentionally join the community that has been placed before me.
This morning, I was surrounded by that community. I got to sing with that community, I got to take communion with that community, and I got to fellowship with that community. This morning, I began to make connections with a community that I will be doing life with… at least for a little while.
Don’t take the community placed before you for granted. God, alone, is enough, but He has given us beautiful opportunity to engage with one another as we continue on in this journey of life.
