It’s Time to Grow | Walk WITH Others — Week 1
“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.” — Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 (NIV)
Somewhere along the way, I think many of us have convinced ourselves that being strong means being independent. We tell ourselves, I’ve got this. I can handle it. I don’t want to bother anyone. I’ll figure it out. And sometimes we do. But what happens when we can’t?
What happens when life becomes heavier than we expected? When the diagnosis comes, the relationship ends, someone we love dies, or we’re simply exhausted from trying to hold everything together?
I’ve learned through my own life that some seasons we simply cannot do alone. And perhaps we were never supposed to.
Years ago, my sister Sara wrote a blog called Community Life. She opened with a thought that has stayed with me.
“The more I think I am able to do something on my own, by my own power and by my own strength, the less I am able to achieve.”
Sara understood something that many of us spend a lifetime learning. Life isn’t just about what we can accomplish, how strong we can become, or how well we can manage everything around us. It’s about our relationship with God and the people He places in our lives.
Sara went on to write:
“It’s not about me creating my best life… it’s about me living the best life God needs me to for a community of people.”
I love that perspective. Because when we begin to understand that life isn’t all about us, something changes. We begin to see people differently. We become more aware of their needs, their struggles, their stories, and the opportunities God gives us to make a difference. And we begin to understand that sometimes we’re the ones who need someone else.
One of my favorite parts of Sara’s writing was her ability to take a deep spiritual truth and explain it in a way that made you smile. In her blog post Community Life, she compared life to a road trip.
She talked about how easy it is to think we’re driving and God is simply along for moral support. But she believed it was supposed to be the other way around. God was the one driving, reading the map, and choosing the turns.
Our responsibility was to get in the car, trust Him with the journey, and choose our attitude along the way. And then she added something that made me laugh.Sometimes she didn’t particularly enjoy the scenery God chose. Or the traveling music. Or even the companions He picked up along the way!
Can you relate?
Sometimes the people God places in our lives aren’t necessarily the people we would have chosen. Sometimes relationships require patience, forgiveness, understanding, and grace. Sometimes the journey takes us places we never wanted to go.
But Sara recognized that when she stopped focusing so much on herself and started paying attention to the people traveling beside her, she began to see things differently. Maybe that person needed someone to listen. Maybe they needed a little encouragement. Maybe God had placed them together for a reason neither one could see yet.
What if we’re so focused on getting where we want to go that we’re missing the people God has placed beside us?
I have experienced this truth in some very personal ways. When we lost my dad, when Sara died, when I walked through divorce, and later when I faced breast cancer, there were moments when I felt overwhelmed by what was happening around me. There were things I couldn’t fix. Questions I couldn’t answer. And circumstances I certainly couldn’t control.
I had to learn that trusting God didn’t mean I had to pretend everything was okay. And being strong didn’t mean I had to do everything myself.
During cancer treatment, there were days when I was physically and emotionally exhausted. Days when another treatment meant another round of feeling sick, tired, and uncomfortable. I couldn’t simply push through everything by determination alone. And that’s when the people around me became such an incredible blessing.
Some offered prayers. Some provided practical help. Some checked in. And some sent unexpected cards with a little piece of encouragement tucked inside. I still remember how meaningful those cards were, especially when they came from people I didn’t even know.
They didn’t take away the cancer. They didn’t make the treatments easier physically. But they reminded me that I wasn’t forgotten. That someone cared. That I wasn’t walking alone. And sometimes, that’s exactly what we need.
I think one of the hardest lessons for many of us is learning how to receive help. We love being the person who encourages others. We enjoy being dependable, helpful, and strong. But when we’re the ones who need encouragement? That’s different.
We don’t want to inconvenience anyone. We don’t want to appear weak. We don’t want to become a burden. Yet Scripture reminds us to carry one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). And sometimes that means allowing someone else to help carry ours.
I watched this play out in such a beautiful way through my sister Sara’s life. Because of her illness, Sara spent years homebound. There were so many things she could no longer do for herself, and she had to depend on others in ways she never would have chosen. But something remarkable happened.
Through her blog, Sara developed an incredible community of people, many of whom she had never met in person. These weren’t simply people reading her words. They became friends. They became encouragers. They became a community that genuinely cared for one another.
At one point, members of her online community even organized a rotating sign-up list to send Sara packages of things she needed for everyday living. Every so often, a box would arrive at her door. Sometimes it contained practical essentials like soap, shampoo, or toothpaste. Other times, someone would tuck in candy, essential oils, or a little surprise just to brighten her day.
Can you imagine?
People who had never even met her were finding ways to make sure she was cared for. And here’s what I love about that story. While those people were sending Sara packages and helping meet her physical needs, Sara was giving them something they needed, too.
Through her writing, her honesty, her encouragement, and her faith, she made people feel seen and valued. She was fully present in her relationships. Even when she was the one struggling physically, she had a way of turning the conversation toward someone else.
How were they doing? What was happening in their lives? What could she do to encourage them?
After Sara died, so many people wrote about the impact she had made on their lives. One blogger shared that Sara had inspired her to choose Joy as her focus word for an entire year. Through Sara, she had discovered new resources that helped deepen her practice of gratitude.
Another beautiful thought in that remembrance came through a quotation from Albert Schweitzer about how another person’s spark can rekindle our light.
Isn’t that what community is supposed to look like?
Sometimes we’re the ones whose light feels dim, and someone else comes alongside us with encouragement, hope, or a simple reminder that we’re not alone. And sometimes we’re the ones God uses to help rekindle that light in someone else.
Sara couldn’t leave her home to serve others in the traditional ways we often think about. But that didn’t stop her from loving people. And the people who loved Sara couldn’t take away her illness or change her circumstances. But they could remind her that she mattered.
They couldn’t fix everything for one another. But they could make sure no one had to walk alone. That’s community. That’s what it looks like to carry one another’s burdens. And that’s a beautiful picture of what God intended when He created us to walk together.
Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 reminds us that two are better than one. Not because life suddenly becomes easy when we have someone beside us. But because when one falls, another can help them up. And we all fall sometimes. We all experience discouragement, disappointment, fear, uncertainty, or exhaustion.
There are times when our faith feels strong and we can encourage someone else. And there are times when our own faith feels shaky and we need someone to remind us of what is true. That’s one of the beautiful things about walking with others. We don’t all have to be strong at the same time.
We simply need to be willing to walk together.
Throughout our It’s Time to Grow journey, we’ve been learning what it means to move from simply believing in Jesus to actually living our faith.
We’ve talked about walking WITH Him, growing AS we walk, walking THROUGH difficult seasons, and learning to walk LIKE Him. But there’s another important part of our journey.
Walking WITH Others.
Our relationship with Jesus was never intended to stop with us. As we grow closer to Him, we should also become more aware of the people around us. More willing to encourage. More willing to listen. More willing to make room. And yes, more willing to let others walk beside us when we need them.
This week, I want to encourage you to think about the people God has placed in your life. Who might need a listening ear? Who could use a little encouragement? Who might be quietly struggling and hoping someone notices?
And perhaps there’s another question worth asking. Have you been trying to walk through something alone when God has already placed people around you who would love to help?
You don’t have to have all the answers. You don’t have to be strong every moment.
And you certainly don’t have to navigate every part of life on your own. We weren’t meant to walk alone.
Sara ended her Community Life blog with a beautiful reflection about surrendering the driver’s seat to God.
“I find the view to be much better from there.”
Maybe when we stop trying to control every part of the journey, we’ll begin to notice the beautiful people God has placed along the way. And maybe we’ll discover that the journey is better when we walk together.
Seek Jesus. Follow Faithfully. Abide Deeply. Experience Joy. Invite Others Along.
A Little Joy for Your Journey
This week, choose one simple way to practice walking with others. Reach out to someone you haven’t heard from in a while. Send a handwritten card. Invite someone for coffee. Offer to listen without trying to fix anything.
Or, if you’re the one walking through a difficult season, consider reaching out and letting someone know you could use a little encouragement.
Remember, community isn’t about having all the answers or always knowing what to say. Sometimes it’s simply about being present.
Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for creating us for relationship with You and with one another. Forgive us for the times we try to carry everything on our own or become so focused on our own journey that we overlook the people You’ve placed beside us.
Help us recognize when someone needs encouragement, when someone needs a listening ear, and when we need to humble ourselves enough to accept help. Teach us to trust You with the direction of our lives and to love the people You bring along the way.
May our lives reflect Your love, and may we never forget that we weren’t meant to walk alone. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
With love and joy,
Laura
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