Community part 2

In Community part one, we talked about the drive behind our desire to connect with others.  We join The desire for this created in us from the start of time.  Created in His image personally by the hands of holy trinity He embeds within us the desire for community.  His mere operation in a community exhibits the importance He places on it.  Let’s explore this more here.

God wants community
Your call into motherhood is important. The training you provide, the life you build and example you set produces dividends for the kingdom of God which makes you a target for the enemy.  The depth of this responsibility does not go unnoticed by our souls wearied by day’s end but in a community we can find the strength, courage and help we need to rise to the call God has given us.  We are not meant to mommy alone.  Maybe God has uprooted you from the life you once knew, the place where you thought you would raise your children or the job you thought you would hold because God has a new role, a new purpose for you in this new place.  He is calling you to plant roots in a new ground.  He has a new community within your new community to plant you, grow you and support you in this new space.

God operates through community.
My yoke is easy and my burdens are light (Matt 11:30).  In the garden, Adam was tasked with upkeep (Gen 2:15).  The breadth of this job must have been humongous much like any call God places on our lives, including the call to motherhood, yet God says His burden is light.  One way, God lightens our burdens is by having us share the weight and responsibility of it with others.  1 Cor 12:12-27, “you are one member of the body of Christ with an important part to contribute, equal to all the others”.  Through a community of believers, God raises up burden bearers (Gal 6:2), offers companionship (Phil 4:2-3), educates (Pro 27:17, Eph 4:15-16) and challenges making you a better version of yourself (Pro 27:17), provides comfort (2 Cor 1:3), help and encouragement (1 Thes 5:14, Rom 1:11-12) to hold you up while He builds you up.  Community matters to your personal growth and spiritual development.  Community protects and preserves you.  Community allows God to speak to you through the actions or mere presence of others.

As I look over the list above here, many of the things God will do through a community requires a vulnerability on our parts to partake in them.  To allow someone to bear your burdens, we have to be willing to share with them.  To be educated or challenged by others, we have to humble ourselves to receive it leaving us vulnerable to the modeling of correction.  To be comforted, helped or encouraged, we submit to embrace of other’s releasing the shell of confidence and armor of strength exposing the intimate details.  I surmise, connecting demands openness and openness comes from vulnerability.  This truth even into adulthood calls me out of my comfort zone.  It requires admitting that I don’t have it all figured out or as together as I’d like it to be but I see the beauty in the community is that it is in place to actually help us hold it together because there is strength in numbers.  

Size doesn’t matter
Communities like people come in all forms.  Social media would lead us to believe that the bigger a community the better but with time we see quality is far better than quantity.  We do not need to have a large community of friends to receive the blessing of community God provides.  Matt 18:20 "where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them".  Just you and one other person one one accord in service to Him can be the foundation God uses to bring you into a community.  The honor of presence does not demand more than this!  God’s word reiterates, “One can put ten to flight but two can put ten thousand” (Deut 32:30).  Still not convinced?!  Let’s look quickly at the story of Gideon (Judges 6-8) for another example in scripture of how God accomplishing much with a small number gathered in His name.  With Gideon, God took over 30000 and narrowed it to 300 to take on a group outnumbering them by dividends.   Do not be led to think we need an army of moms to fulfill the call on our lives, to stand in the face of our challenges or concerns.  We just need to be aligned with the right mom, the one God has selected as a start for the catalyst of the journey ahead.  Remaining open to the possibilities for the community God has in mind for you because quality not quantity is what matters to God. 

Finding the right community
Submission results in openness.  To find the right place to connect and build community, submit to God’s will.  Connect with Him through praying and studying scripture and ask Him to change your heart so that it is free of fear, open your eyes so you can see His guiding hand and sharpen your ears to hear His voice clearly for His direction.  As we connect with Him, we become connected with those He desires.  As you pray, ask God to show you where to connect, where to plant yourself and take root in your church, your job, your child’s school, your neighborhood or town.  God has placed you in your particular location with a connection in mind, a connection designed to go along with you in your mom journey.  Let’s us seek Him with openness as the conduit to make the connections He desires. 
 
Sow the seed:  God has a right fit in the right community for you somewhere.  Seek Him for where you belong.

Nurture the seed: Matt 18:20 "where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them".



Until next time,
happy sowing!