Gather

Gather

Where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK? How should I respond?” I asked, reaching for a Kleenex to wipe a stray tear. A comfortable silence stretched as my Saturday morning Bible study pondered the situation, thinking carefully before offering advice. I knew these women, and I trusted they would give me godly counsel as I sought to respond gracefully to a hard situation.

I’ve belonged to small faith communities beyond my church family—formal and informal—continuously since my midtwenties. Bible studies, ministry groups, intimate circles of close friends, a collective of families committed to welcoming refugees into our community and homes, each of these faith communities have served a different role in my life, but all have had the common thread of Jesus woven throughout.

I thrive when I regularly gather (online or in person) with other people who love Jesus. I crave the collective wisdom, accountability, and companionship of those attempting to live similar lives, and I find their experiences and wise counsel gives me momentum to stay the course when my path looks particularly rocky and hard. And while I enjoy quietude before God, there is something deeply sacred about gathering around kitchen islands and firepits and over steaming cups of coffee with others as we wrestle with our faith and what it means to walk it out in our daily lives.

We were not meant to follow Jesus on our own. While it’s possible, we were created to be in community, to be in familial relationship with other believers, a cobbled-together, adoptive family with Jesus in our midst whenever and wherever we have gathered. There are no preconditions to this promise, no requirements of time or location, no rituals to perform. We need simply to gather.

Lord, provide an adoptive, spiritual family for this season in my life, that I may be challenged, supported, and urged on as we grow deeper in our faith together. Amen.

-Julie

One Good Step: Be the inviter. Prayerfully invite a follower of Jesus you don’t know well to coffee or out to lunch, or invite their family over for a meal.